


Scattered Rose Petals

by SquiddlesScribbles



Category: RWBY
Genre: BDSM, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spanking, Underage tag is for something that happened before the story, Vaginal Fingering, mentions of past sexual abuse, presenting, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2018-12-24 04:59:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12005535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquiddlesScribbles/pseuds/SquiddlesScribbles
Summary: The “Red Reaper” was considered a legend around the city of Vale. She was used as a way to keep kids in line, “If you do that again the Red Reaper will come and get you.” As well as used as a scary story. Everyone knew about her. She hid in the shadows and struck with a wave of her cape. And yet, no one knew anything about her. Her age, her height, her face. Nothing. The only way to tell if it was even the Red Reaper was the culprit behind any murder was the red rose petals that were always scattered at the scene of the crime.She was never stopped, not until getting a particularly difficult mission.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Readers. Mwah! *blow kisses*  
> I bet you were expecting another chapter of this story but I’m sorry to say I have something important I wish to discuss. It's come to my attention that a guest reviewer or possibly several is attempting to use Ardy’s name to spread toxic over these stories. Hate does not bother me (meh) Its a waste of energy in my opinion and boy must these people have time on their hands pfft. I don’t make a big deal out of things normally because well Trolls be Trolls and I have better things to do then feed them.   
> However,  
> Had it just been me I wouldn't bother but since people who like the work are being pulled in I have a duty of care to protect those people from hateful toxic comments. So first thing on the agenda and I really didn't want to have to do this. “Disable Anonymous Comments.” Now I know some of you are lovely people and your support is very much appreciated so I hope you make your own account so I can thank you properly but I will NOT have Asshole commenters hurting others people.   
> And to you stupid person or people, this will be the first, last and only meal you ever get. So if you want me, come and get me but you won't be hiding behind that veil of shadow anymore.   
> For now stay awesome and If you see these comments or if someone is using a name that looks like a poor imitation of Kry or Ardy or any of our other co-writers please alert me. They are not us, the account name for Ardy is retired and she’s not using it anymore. If a comment does not come through KryHearts account it is not either of them.  
> Be happy, grow and spread that positivity and Ardy has asked me to leave you now with this lovely song.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jclPWidTfak

Ruby Rose was only 10 when her entire family was slain by a pack of beowolves. For 2 years she fended for herself on the streets, using only her semblance, speed, and her cunning brain as a way to get money by swiping wallets from people. One day, when she was trying to swipe some rich-looking guy’s wallet, he grabbed her wrist really tightly and stared down at her perpetually silver eyes.

“What the hell are you doing?!” The man paused, his green eyes narrowing at her, recognizing her face from the wanted posters that were posted everywhere. “Oh, so you’re the little thief that’s been stealing peoples’ hard earned money. Tell me, what’s your name, Little Red?” He mused as he leaned down to bring his face uncomfortably close to hers. Her nose scrunched up when she smelled the cigar smoke on his breath and clothes. She stared at his bright green eyes and shook her head. “What? Just tell me your stupid name, kid.”

“R-Ruby…” She didn’t give her last name, for obvious reasons. Though her brain still screamed, This man could turn you in! What are you doing?!

“Ah, well Ruby you seem pretty handy. Would you like a place to stay? No strings attached.” He leaned back, standing at his full height as he offered this boon, his voice lacking any kind of care or compassion. He hands were stuffed in the pockets the small 10-year-old had just tried to steal from.

Looked up at him in confusion. “Huh?” She involuntarily said out loud.

“Clean out your ears, kid. Do you want a place to stay?” He repeated, annoyance dripping from his voice this time.

Ruby quickly thought about it, knowing that he probably would retract his offer if she took too long, and nodded slightly. “Okay…” She was only 12, so of course this offer sounded somewhat too-good-to-be-true, but still, she grew up hearing fairy tales involving really kind strangers...

“Good. Follow me, then.” He finally let go of her wrist, leaving a bruise, and walking off. “The name’s Torchwick, by the way.” Ruby had to run to keep up with the taller man’s long strides, her tattered red cape flowing behind her.

As soon as the door to his mansion closed behind them, he leads the twelve-year-old down a series of hallways and staircases until he stopped at a room that Ruby assumed was the basement. There were boxes and crates everywhere, as well as people in weird white and red masks walking around. He turned to the young girl and stated bluntly, “I lied when I said no strings attached.”

“What?!” She yelled in surprise, startling even herself. “Then why am I here?”

“I’m glad you asked, Little Red. You’re here because I need you. You’re quick, unnaturally so. You’d make a great assassin and bodyguard, with a bit of training of course.” He replied, equally as blunt as the previous statement.

Ruby’s mouth hung open in astonishment. She couldn’t believe this guy! She was about to turn around and leave, but she knew an opportunity such as this one wouldn’t present itself again. To be able to live in a mansion as luxurious as this one was one of her childhood dreams, even before she was on the streets. “Oh…” She wanted to protest, she really did! But the thought of staying in this house sounded much more inviting than going back out on the cold streets. “I can do that.”

And so, it only took 2 years for Ruby to be ready to protect Torchwick with her life. She was a skilled hand-to-hand fighter, as well as a sharpshooter and sword wielder, though her favorite weapon was her beloved Crescent Rose (which Roman thought was tacky). For the next 3 years, she protected him, killed people for him, and served him without any kind of mistakes. Over the course of those 3 years, Ruby became a hardened shield, prepared to kill anything that threatened hers or Roman’s life.

That was until one day when she got a particularly difficult mission.


	2. Chapter 1: Caught

“What?! You want me to go after him?!” Ruby yelled, her brows furrowing in a mix-up confusion and indignation.

“Yes, and would you please stop yelling. You’re giving me a headache.” Torchwick complained as he pulled out a cigar and lit it.

Her nose scrunched up at the smell. Even after 5 years she still couldn’t get used to the foul scent of his cigars. “...Yes, sir…” She begrudgingly muttered. “But, why do you want him dead?”

He puffed smoke out in her face, knowing how much she disliked when he did that. “Personal reasons. Just do it.”

Ruby coughed and waved her hand in front of her face, a new spark of annoyance rising in her. “But sir! I’m sure his apartment alone probably has more security guards than the Vale National Bank! Do you know how hard it’s going to be just to get on the property?” She complained, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout, which usually worked to get her what she wanted, Roman had a soft spot for cute girls like her, after all. Sadly, it seemed as though that tactic wouldn’t work this time.

Roman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ruby…” He practically growled.

She sighed in defeat and slumped her shoulders. “Fine… I guess I’ll think of some way to get in.”

~

A few hours later, Ruby walked into his office without knocking as she usually did. “What do you want?” He grumbled, looking up at her from his seat behind the desk.

“I figured out how to get in!” She said, plopping down on his desk.

“Oh yeah? Enlighten me then, Little Red,” He replied in a sarcastic tone.

“Well, first I need to know if you can get me a uniform for Beacon…”

 

“Uuugh! I take it baaack!” Ruby whined, pulling at the uniform she was wearing. “I don’t want to go to schooooool!”

Roman rolled his eyes. “It was your idea, Red. Now go. It shouldn’t take too long to do this. I’m giving you 3 days.”

Ruby sighed and nodded. “Fiiiine…” She took a deep breath and walked into the giant school building, quickly blending in with the crowd of students on her way to the headmaster’s office.

Ruby almost walked right into the doors of the elevator that leads straight into Ozpin’s office, so used to the elevator’s back at Torchwick’s place that automatically scanned her face and opened for her. She stopped herself in time, thankfully saving herself from looking like a fool. Sighing, she pressed the “up” button next to the doors and waited for them to open. Once she made it to his office, she quickly scanned the room, noticing gears in the ceiling, and an elevator almost right next to the one she just came out of, as well as a door on the far side of the room. She guessed that the door leads to his apartment since there was really nowhere else it could go. She only took a moment to ponder what the second elevator would be used for, but she just assumed it was an emergency elevator in case the other stopped working. When she finished with her scan she looked at the man himself, and her jaw almost hit the floor. So far she’s only seen pictures of the man, and from those pictures, she assumed he was old because of his white hair, but upon seeing him in person, she realized he was actually quite young… And, although she would probably never admit it out loud, handsome. His white hair seemed to be natural, not from old age. He actually appeared to only be in his late twenties to early thirties. His copper-colored eyes seemed to study her, while her silver ones did the same.

“Ah, Miss Red. Please, take a seat.” Ruby was confused for a moment before remembering that Torchwick was the one who created her fake documents. I’m so going to kill him when this is over…

“Thank you, Professor…?” She paused, acting like she didn’t know his name. She figured it would help with her image of the “exchange student from Mistral”. The full cover-story was she was a student from Mistral at Beacon to judge if she wanted to enroll in Beacon or not. It worked exceptionally well since Ruby had just recently turned 17 that year.

“Ozpin, Aleister Ozpin.” He filled in.

“Ah, right. Thank you so much for the opportunity to scope out your school. It really means a lot.” She smiled.

“It was no problem at all. It’d be wonderful to have a gifted student such as yourself in my school. You know, scythe wielders are quite rare,” He said in his smooth voice that made Ruby’s heart flutter.

“Indeed…” She nodded and they settled into an awkward silence.

After a few moments, Ozpin pulled a few documents out of a drawer in his desk. “Here is your schedule, as well as your dorm room key, locker number, and scroll. After some consideration, I came to the decision to not place you in a team, since you’ll only be here for a few weeks. If you find that you do wish to be on one, please come up and tell me at any time.” He slid the papers over to her.

Ruby nodded, a smile stretching across her face. “Thank you, sir! I’m sure I’ll be able to handle myself on my own.” I’ve been doing it for years, she thought but decided not to add. Ruby stood up and straightened her skirt before bowing a bit.

“I look forward to working with you, Miss Red.”

“I do as well, Professor Ozpin!” Ruby said cheerfully before she walked out.

Her smile dropped as she walked away. Too easy. He’ll be dead by tonight, she thought to herself, Too bad, though. He is really attractive. Ruby shook that thought from her head while she walked to her dorm room. She set up a little “base” in the room and sat down on the bed to call Torchwick.

“Hey, Torchie! I just wanted to say, this is the best plan I’ve ever had. It’s going to be so easy. Just wait, he’ll be gone by morning.” She said cheerfully.

“You’d better be right,” He said gruffly.

“Of course I am! By the way, did you make my last name ‘Red’ on those documents?” She inquired, smiling with a hint of irritation in her voice.

“No. Now that you mention it, I should have,” Ruby could practically see his smirk when he said that. “Why? Did something happen?”

Ruby thought for a moment. “No, just making sure you didn’t do something stupid like that.”

Ruby hung up. If her name was still Ruby Rose on the documents, then why did Ozpin call her “Red”? Was it just a nickname, like the way Torchwick said it? She decided she’d find out later and laid down on the bed and messed around with her new scroll before she dubbed it a decent time to do the deed. She donned her usual outfit: A black long sleeved shirt that stopped above her belly button, a black pair of pants, black and red lace up boots, and―of course―her trademark red cloak. She clipped on a red utility belt that had dust sniper rounds, a small knife, and a holster for her scythe. She then grabbed her beloved Crescent Rose, clipped it to the holster on the small of her back and headed out.

Once she made it outside she used her semblance scatter into small rose petals, and direct the wind to gently float her up the side of the building and she was soon standing on the balcony that leads into his apartment. She picked the lock on the French doors and quietly stepped in. It took a brief moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but soon she was tiptoeing to the Professor’s room. She figured she wouldn’t need her scythe for this job since he probably wouldn’t put up much a fight because he was asleep, so instead of grabbing it she pulled out her knife. She used her semblance once again, which scattered a few stray rose petals from the door to there, to silently get to the side of his bed in a matter of seconds.

Even though she felt a slight pang of guilt at killing him―he was quite attractive, after all―but orders were orders. She took a deep breath and raised the knife above her head, quickly bringing it down. She waited for the feeling of the knife plunging into his chest, but she was stopped by a hand on her wrist.

“What the hell are you doing?” Came a gruff voice from under the blankets.

Ruby was suddenly filled with a sense of déjà vu…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Figured I should post the prologue as well as the first chapter since the prologue was somewhat short. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

“What the hell are you doing?” Ozpin repeated as he sat up, his grip on Ruby’s wrist tightening. 

“I-I-” Ruby stammered, completely caught off guard. She hasn’t been caught since… Well, since when she first met Torchwick.

“Must I repeat myself once again, Miss Red?” He asked.

“H-How did you…” She stammered, her eyes widening in fear.

“I’ve been keeping track of you for awhile now, Red. I didn't have solid proof until now. Once I realized your… employer… had found out about what I knew, I knew he’d send you after me next. Though I didn't think you'd be rash enough to try to come after me on the first night, without any sort of observations. You really are as naïve as I thought.” Ozpin smirked.

Ruby struggled to release her wrist from his powerful grasp. Even as tightly as he was holding her wrist, she could tell he was holding back immensely. “I'm not naïve! I've killed more people than you could possibly count, and you're about to be added to the list!” She dropped the knife and used her one free hand to grab Crescent Rose. Ruby swung her scythe down to cut his hand off—to finally release his bruising grip on her poor wrist—but he let go just in time to save himself from losing a limb.

The smirk remained on his face. Oh, how much Ruby would like to cut off that stupid, attractive, and unbelievably  _ aggravating _ face! “Is that a challenge, Miss Red?”

“No, because there will be no challenge!” Ruby knew she was losing her temper, and that it could cost her her life by doing so, but she just couldn't contain her rage! His face made her want to punch a kitten, or something equally adorable!

Ozpin stood up and grabbed his cane. “I doubt you’ll even be able to land a single hit.” He stated. 

“I’m going to win, you… you old man!” She shouted, taking a standard fighting position. 

She used her semblance to try to surprise him with a headbutt to the stomach or something of that sort, but instead, he seemed to know what she was going to do before she did and blocked it, throwing her back. She slammed into the wall with a small “oof” as the air was knocked out of her lungs. She tried to stand up and go after him again but he was already over with her, using his cane to land a few blows on her. 

Soon Ruby came back to her senses and used Crescent Rose to deflect some of his attacks, and yet he was still too fast. Soon his cane hit a bunch of pressure points along her body that made it go completely limp. As she stared up at him, willing her limbs to move, she could feel herself starting to slip away, her eyelids suddenly becoming heavy. “What did… you do to… me…?” Ruby managed to slur. 

He didn’t answer and moved to pick her up. Ruby could feel her arm being pressed against the bare skin of his chest before her vision finally faded to nothingness.

 

When Ruby woke up the next morning, she had no idea where she was. She was, in all honestly, a little worried when she realized she hadn't woken up in Roman’s bed like she usually did. Her silver eyes opened and the first thing she saw was a gear, resting in the ceiling. That’s when it hit her. Literally. She felt like she had just gotten hit by a  _ bus _ . 

The young girl rubbed the sore muscles on her arm and closed her eyes, sighing. 

“Glad to see you’ve finally joined the living, Miss Red,” Ruby heard from beside her. She opened her eyes again and looked over to see Ozpin sitting on a chair next to the couch she was resting on sipping something from a mug. He was actually wearing a shirt this time—a white t-shirt—as well as green pajama pants. Ruby suddenly remembered the fight from the night before and her face burned in shame. She couldn’t believe she had been beaten so easily, especially by someone who seemed so old. 

“You… You beat me…” She muttered, her eyes widening slightly in fear. “You’re not going to turn me in… Are you?”

Ozpin seemed to think it over for a second. “No.” Ruby shot up in surprise, a bolt of pain shooting through her entire body. She winced slightly but ignored it for the most part.

“What?! Why not?!” She shouted. 

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. “Would you like me to turn you in?”

“No! I just… Why wouldn’t you…?” Ruby couldn’t hide her astonished expression.

“Because, Miss Rose, you have great potential. I think you could have been a great huntress if you hadn’t gone down the wrong path-”

“No!” She said again. “I know what I’m doing and I don’t need some old man to tell me otherwise.” She stood up, despite her protesting muscles, and began walking out of the apartment.

“You should really sit back down, Miss Rose,” he warned. 

“Oh yeah? Why should I listen to you?” She sneered, stopping long enough to turn and glare at him.

“Because you’re going to fall.” He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“What makes you say-” Her limbs suddenly went slack and she collapsed on the hard ground. “Oww!”

Ozpin sighed and set his mug on the coffee table, walking over to the squirming girl. “Your muscles still haven’t quite woken up yet.” He stated as he bent over to pick her back up. He carried the girl back over to the couch and set her back down. “So, Miss Red, would you like to give up your life as a criminal and train under my guidance, or be turned in to the police?”

Ruby glared at him, staying silent. She thought it over. She could actually use this as an opportunity to collect information on the man, something that could help definitely help Roman. Yet, at the same time, she really did kind of want to drop her life of crime. It was really tiring always having to be on her guard, wondering if she was going to get caught by the police. She also knew she shouldn't, or couldn't,  _ really _ leave behind her life. She has the blood of hundreds of lives stained on her hands, resting on her shoulders. She would have to be punished for the things she did, one way or another. Whether it be staying on Torchwick’s side and being turned in to the police, or taking Ozpin’s side and possibly being murdered. Oh, what has she gotten herself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry these chapters are so short, once we get to chapter three I'll try to start lengthening them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A daunting decision, and a bonding beat-down.

“So? What is your decision?” Ozpin asked about an hour later when the feeling returned to Ruby’s muscles. She had weighed the pros and cons of giving up on Roman and training under Ozpin’s guidance.

She knew that if Ozpin really did turn her in, Roman would either completely cut ties with her or be able to break her out. If she cut ties with him, he would probably murder her brutally. But how? She could take out everyone in the White Fang at the same time, but he might send Cinder Fall after her which would be bad. Cinder, with half of the Fall Maiden’s powers, might be able to take her out. Ruby had already come close to defeating her in practice, but that’s just practice. Cinder could have been holding back then.

Ignoring all of that, if she were to train under Ozpin for long enough, which wouldn’t be too long, she would probably have the strength to take out Cinder with some of Ozpin’s help. But there was still the possibility of making Ozpin think she was taking up his offer, while she instead was still with Roman. Collect information… It would make Cinder happy, she knew that. And it would definitely help to have a spy on their side.

So, with about an equal amount of pros and cons on both sides, she decided she was going to go with both Ozpin and Torchwick.

After a few beats of silence, Ruby answered him. “Yes. I will train under you.”

“Good choice, Ruby.” He finally used her first name. “And yes, I understand that it will be difficult for you to get out from under Torchwick’s thumb, so please if you need my help just ask.”

“I can handle myself,” Ruby grumbled, crossing her arms stubbornly. He chuckled at her childishness, making her blush.

“Well, you should run along back to your dorm, Miss Rose. And don’t mention this to anyone. I’d like to keep our little arrangement a secret,” He stood up and held his hand out for her to take.

She stood up without his help and walked away, not saying anything in response.

As soon as she got back to her room she pulled out her scroll and called Torchwick. He didn’t pick up, of course. It was 4 am, he was probably only now getting to bed. She left a message instead. “I have some good news and some bad news. Call me when you wake up.” She kept the message brief and hung up. She laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. After only about 5 minutes, her scroll began ringing. She sat up and answered it, hearing Torchwick’s gruff voice on the other end. “What happened?! Did anyone see you?!” He yelled, and she flinched.

“No! Well… Sort of… Ozpin caught me-” she could hear Roman about to try to interrupt her, so she spoke the next part of the sentence slightly louder to talk over him, “-but I now have an opportunity…” she paused, suddenly realizing that her call could be monitored. “I’ll have to explain it later. We’ll need to meet up sometime soon. Tomorrow around 10 pm at that noodle shop, is that okay?”

She could practically sense him roll his eyes. “Yeah, yeah whatever. Just… Don’t get yourself arrested.”

“Yes, sir…” Ruby hung up and flopped back down on the bed. She felt something akin to guilt tugging at her heart. She didn’t understand it. Was it because she was betraying Ozpin’s trust?

 

After all of her regular classes, she went up to Ozpin’s apartment for her special training at 5 pm.

“Okay, you have to teach me how to do that thing you did last night,” Ruby said as she walked in. She had on her usual battle outfit, minus the red cape. Crescent Rose was on the small of her back, and Ruby was ready for any kind of training he had for her.

Ozpin seemed to think it over. “No. You’re not ready for any advanced moves yet,” he stated.

Ruby’s eyes widened. “Wha-?! _Advanced?!_ All you did was poke me with your fucking cane!”

Ozpin rolled his eyes. “If that’s all you think it is, then you definitely aren’t ready for it. In fact, maybe we should just start from the beginning.”

“Th-the beginning?! But _why_?” Ruby whined, pouting.

Sighing, Ozpin rolled his eyes again and decided to just ignore the girl’s whining. And so, they began to train. Ozpin knew the girl didn’t really need to start at the very beginning, but he just wanted to get an idea of her style and how far along she really was. A couple hours later, Ruby’s scroll started buzzing. The young girl pulled it out of her pocket to see who was calling her. “Miss Rose, I thought I told you to turn your scroll off.”

“Yeah, sorry Ozzy but I have to take this!” She smiled sheepishly and quickly dashed out of the man’s apartment while she answered the call.

“Red! Where are you? I’ve been sitting here for half an hour waiting for you!” She could hear Roman’s angry voice on the other end.

“I know, I’m so sorry. I lost track of time! I’ll try to get there as soon as I can!” She quickly hung up before he could yell anymore and sent a quick message to Ozpin. _‘Something came up, had to leave. Continue tomorrow?’_ She ran up to her dorm room and grabbed her red cloak before sprinting out the Academy’s front gates and towards the city. She knew when she’d meet up with Roman he’d give her an earful about “wasting his time”.

It took her about 10 minutes to get to the city and 5 more to reach the noodle shop. Once she made it there she took another minute to stop and catch her breath before actually walking in. When she did, she immediately spotted Torchwick and walked towards him. “Sorry I’m so late, Torchie. Got caught up with some stuff.” Ruby tried to play it off, but she could see irritation in the man’s green eyes.

“So what’s this big news you needed to tell me? Did you finally kill him?” Roman asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

Ruby looked around the shop and upon noticing only one other person, who looked completely wasted with his cape-clad back slouched over and a glass of what appeared to be whiskey in his hand, she leaned in a bit closer and started talking in a hushed tone. “Not yet, but after catching me he offered a proposition. He said he’d train me if I cut my ties with you. I… I told him I would and I think he believed me.”

Torchwick shrugged. “So? How will this benefit us? You’re already trained enough.”

Ruby rolled her eyes at the man. “I can get information from him!” She all but shouted. Once she noticed the servers staring at her she blushed and looked down and repeated in a quieter tone, “I can get information from him… I can get him to trust me and work as a spy. I can… I can help out by doing more than spilling blood…” she trailed off, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. “You’ll need to get a new bodyguard while I do this though…”

Roman was silent while he thought it over. “Fine. You can play spy for now, but when I say you need to come back, you will. Got it?”

Ruby nodded quickly. “Yes! Thank you so much Torchie!” she smiled brightly, and stood up. “Now I have to get back to campus, or Ozzy’ll get suspicious. I’ll message you if I see or hear anything juicy!” She pecked his cheek before sauntering out of the small shop.

The petite redhead made it back to her dorm as fast as she could, without seeming suspicious of course, and walked into her dark dorm room. She flicked on the light as she pulled her cloak off, she jumped back when she saw a familiar green-clad man sitting on her bed.

“P-Professor Ozpin!” She yelped, her heart leaping into her throat.

The man stood calmly, his hands resting on top of his cane. He peered down at her from atop his spectacles, a mix of disappointment and something akin to malice shining in his eyes. In a flash, he raised his cane and brought it down on Ruby, knocking her to her knees. She clutched the top of her head, which was now throbbing painfully.

“You must take me for an idiot, to think I wouldn’t know what you’re doing,” he stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Ruby groaned quietly in response and attempted to get up. He slammed the end of his cane back down on top of her head, sending her back to the hard ground. “I knew from the second you accepted my offer that this was what you were planning,” he continued as if nothing happened. “You thought you were smart, acting as if you were on my side while in reality, you were still with Torchwick. It’s actually somewhat funny to think you made it this far without being caught with your sheer _lack_ of intelligence.”

Ruby’s hand shakily raised as she let out another groan. Ozpin’s set his foot down on her hand, probably bruising her poor fingers. “Shut up, I’m talking,” he said in an annoyed tone. He cleared his throat. “As such, since I _obviously_ cannot trust you to truly cut off your ties with Torchwick, I’ve decided you’re to live in my apartment from now on, where I can monitor you 24/7. You will also have an escort with you at all times when you go to your classes, or leave campus. You might recognize him, actually.” He took his foot off her hand, letting her sit up as he whistled. Ruby’s one hand remained on top of her throbbing head. Her aura had healed whatever actual damage Ozpin had caused, but that didn’t mean it stopped hurting.

A large black bird flew in through the open window, transforming in a poof of black feathers to reveal a lean man with jet black hair, a small bit of a 5-o’clock shadow, and a tattered red cape, very similar to the one on Ruby’s back. The silver-eyed girl squinted at him, feeling some familiarity towards the red-eyed man, but was unable to place where she had seen him.

“Um…” she said, tilting her head like a confused puppy. “Do I know you?” she asked.

The man slumped slightly, looking somewhat exasperated. “What? You don’t recognize your own uncle?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Her eyes narrowed a little bit more. “Hmm… Nope.”

He sighed, scratching the back of his head. “Jeez, I know I wasn’t around much but I thought I left some kind of impression…” he shrugged, and pulled out a silver flask, screwing off the top and taking a swig. “Anyway, I’ll be watching you. Making sure you make good choices or whatever.”

“No, no,” Ozpin interjected, a stern look on his face, “Not “or whatever”, you will be watching her closely, or I’m sending you back to Mistral.”

Qrow rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah I understand.”

Ozpin sighed and looked down at Ruby, who had been silently watching him the whole time. He held his hand out to her and she lightly placed hers atop his and stood up. He cleared his throat, “I apologize for being rough,” he said, his eyes gleaming with a hint of actual guilt.

Ruby shrugged, “It’s alright, I’m used to it from Torchie,” she said with a grimace at the memories of the nights when Roman drank too much and hit her. Ozpin’s eyes softened at her words, knowing what she had meant.

“Pack your things, then. You will be staying in my guest bedroom for the time being,” Ozpin said. Ruby nodded and grabbed the few belongings she had on her. She didn’t bring much because she didn’t have much, and she wasn’t really planning on staying long. All she had was a couple different outfits, including two Beacon school uniforms. Once she had that all together and in her bag, the two of them walked out of the room. Qrow opted to take to the skies to leave since he only had to watch her when she was outside of Ozpin’s apartment. He’d be staying in an inn, near Beacon but closer to Vale.  

 

In a few short minutes, Ruby and Ozpin arrived at his flat. When Ozpin opened the door, he flicked the lights on and stepped back to let her in past him. She hesitantly walked in and followed him to the room where she’d be staying. It was somewhat bare, the walls were a soft cream color, and the plush carpet was a tan color that complimented it. In the center of the room was a queen-sized bed with a neatly made green bedspread. On the right wall was a light oak chest of drawers, and resting on it was a mirror. On the left wall was a matching oak desk with a chair pushed into it and a green lamp sitting on it. Next to the desk was a door which leads to a small closet. Ozpin explained that since she’d be living there for awhile, she could decorate it however she wished.

Ozpin left her to put her belongings away, closing the door behind him.

Ruby set her bag down on the dresser and sat down at the end of the bed, sighing. She couldn’t believe that only two days ago she was lounging around Roman’s mansion, sleeping in his bed and annoying him when the urge to do so arose. Now that she had a moment to her thoughts, she realized she’d probably never be able to do that again. Sure, that seemed somewhat dramatic, but it appeared as if Ozpin would be ruling her with an iron fist. She’d be monitored 24/7… Except, not right now.

A small, sneaky grin crept on her face as she whipped out her scroll and opened it up to quietly call Roman. As soon as she held the device up to her ear, she heard the doorknob rattle, and she quickly closed it and placed it on the bed next to her.

“Oh, I forgot…” Ozpin said once the door was open and he was inside the room. He grabbed her scroll and held it up. “...I’ll be taking this.”

Ruby pouted at his back as he walked away, and sighed again.

She laid on her back, with her legs still dangling off the end of the bed, and closed her eyes. She only meant to rest her tired eyes but in a few short moments she had dozed off.

Her dreams, despite everything that’s happened previously, were peaceful.

 

When the silver-eyed warrior awoke next, it was dark and she was tightly curled up under the soft green covers of her bed. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning. The first thing she noticed was her current lack clothes. When she had fallen asleep she was wearing her usual, black shirt and black pants, but now she wasn’t wearing any pants. Instead, she had an oversized white t-shirt which she assumed went down to at least her mid-thigh. Then, she noticed the smell of breakfast food wafting from outside her closed door. Ruby bounced out of the room, to the kitchen where Ozpin was standing in front of the stove cooking something.

Ruby looked at the clock on the wall and found it was about 4:30 in the morning, which explained why she could still see the shatter moon on the horizon. Ozpin was humming to himself as he went about, what Ruby assumed was, his morning routine. The red-haired girl admired the muscles of his bare back as he cooked up breakfast and brewed coffee. As he raised his mug up to his lips, his head turned a bit and he finally acknowledged her presence.

“Ah… good morning, Miss Rose. Did you sleep well?” he asked, pulling out a mug for her. “Coffee or hot chocolate?”

“Chocolate,” she said, then sat down in one of the barstools in front of him. “And yes I did. I… um, did you undress and move me?”

Ozpin gave her an affirmative hum as he placed her hot chocolate in front of her. “I figured it wasn’t very comfortable, your sleeping position and state of dress. I need you in top shape for training.”

Ruby nodded, looking down the thick, steaming liquid in front of her and thought it looked somewhat disgusting to her queasy stomach. Her mind conjured up the image Ozpin’s course hands touching her while she was unconscious, except after a moment of imagining it, it wasn’t Ozpin anymore. She saw Roman’s cold green eyes and felt his perpetually soft fingers on her skin. Her head felt like it was clogged with a dense fog, blocking out any other thoughts. She felt real hands touching her, somewhat tightly gripping her shoulders and a soft voice broke through the fog, telling her to count down from 100. Confused, she did so. Once she had gotten around 40 or 30, the fog cleared and she escaped her awake-nightmare. She blinked slowly, her vision fading in and out. All she could see was Ozpin’s empathetic copper brown eyes peering at her over his glasses. She continued counting down, her heart rate slowing to its regular pace.

“...4...3...2...1…” she finished with a sigh, and Ozpin pulled back, his hands resting in his pajama pants pockets. “Sorry…” she muttered, feeling the need to after years of Roman yelling at her for having panic attacks on the job, making him look bad, blah blah blah…

“No need to apologize,” he assured her, walking back into the kitchen. “Do you get them often?”

“Um… Yeah, somewhat… I’d usually get them whenever Ro-” she cleared her throat, looking down at the, now cold, cup of hot chocolate. “Anyway, thank you for helping me. I’m not sure how long that one would have lasted if you hadn’t.”

“It’s no problem at all. Hunters and huntresses often get them when they’re out in the field and use that method to focus on something other than what’s stressing them out,” he explained in that same calming voice he used to snap her out of it. He grabbed two plates out and loaded one with eggs, sausage, and a couple pancakes, then did the same with the other one. He gave Ruby one plate, along with silverware and a napkin, and placed his own in front of him.

“Oh… Hmm… Did you get them when you hunted?” she asked him, taking small and rather hesitant bites of her food. She wasn’t exactly sure if her stomach could handle very much at the moment.

“Yes well… I did when I was first starting out. Not so much anymore,” he said, his tone somewhat terse. It seemed as though he didn’t actually want to admit he had any kind of flaws, and only did so to comfort the girl in front of him.

They both shared a small smile, then went about finishing their meal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is a day late! I meant to post this last night but it completely slipped my mind. ;;n;; I'm not sure if I will be able to post next weekend at all either, so I might either upload on Friday or Monday, depending on if I finish Chapter 4 or not. Please forgive me!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! ^3^


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hunter's heart to heart and some tentative training.

After breakfast, both Ozpin and Ruby jumped right into training. It was a Saturday, so they had the whole day to practice. Well, more like Ozpin had the whole day to make Ruby never want to use her legs again. He had her running laps around the school currently. Then afterward he’d have her doing push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, lunges, and squats. He had remarked that she was out of shape, despite having such a thin physique. Her muscles were soft, and her abs were undefined.

After that nightmare of a workout, the two of them had lunch in the cafeteria. The two of them sat down at an empty table to eat. Ozpin immediately dug in, while Ruby picked at her’s, only taking small bites here and there.

Ruby felt the eyes of her peers on her as she ate with the headmaster, and felt some apprehension at that fact. She felt her vision blurring slightly, and felt like the other students were whispering about her. Her throat closed up and she suddenly stood up, giving her half-eaten meal a disgusted look as she quickly walked out. She felt something akin to a cloud of black smoke curling around her, cutting off her oxygen and she power-walked through the halls, desperately trying to find someplace to be alone. Soon, she made it outside to some courtyard and sat down on a bench with her head in her hands, breathing heavily. Off in the distance, she heard the “caw” of a crow, making her roll her eyes. She tightly gripped the fabric of her pants and slowly started counting down from 100, like Ozpin said.

Once she got down to one, she heard flapping and Qrow sat down next to her. They both sat silently for a moment before Ruby finally spoke.

“Are you really my uncle?” she asked, still looking down at the gray concrete the bench was bolted to.

Qrow sighed and ran a hand through his hair, thinking over his words before he spoke. “Yes, and no. I was your sister’s uncle, but you were still family to me,” he said gently.

Ruby wanted to argue, shout at him about abandoning her, how he was never there… But she couldn’t find it in her to start a fight. That’s just it, he was never there. She barely knew him, and never really remembered he existed until Ozpin had introduced them. Sure, it sucked that he hadn’t looked for her when Yang and Tai were killed, but she couldn’t hold it against him. At the time he was probably so deep in the filth of Mistral it would have taken months for the news to reach him, and even longer for him to attempt to find her.

Instead, she shrugged. “Okay,” she said. It was simple. They could just start over.

“What? You’re not mad or anything?” he asked, confused.

“No… I can’t really hold anything against you. We’re not really family, after all,” she said in a nonchalant tone. Her words probably would have felt like a slap in the face if the man beside her wasn’t hammered. Still, he felt a dull ache from them. He was probably the shittiest relative alive, no pun intended.

“Yeah…” he croaked, then stood up. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, slouching over a little bit. “You should get back to Ozpin. He’s probably wondering where you went. You did kind of ditch him in the middle of your little date.” he chuckled darkly, the thought of stuffy old Ozpin dating young and bright little Ruby was an amusing image, though it did stimulate his overprotective senses.

A slight blush crept up on Ruby’s round cheeks. “W-we’re not…” she cleared her throat, attempting not to make a fool of herself. “Whatever, see you around…”

She walked off with her posture stiff and her head held high. Qrow watched her strut away from him, a small smile on his face. “Oz, you lucky devil,” he muttered, somewhat bitterly, to himself.

 

When Ruby made it back to the cafeteria, her green-clad mentor was nowhere to be found. She sought out one of the professors, who told her they had seen him walk back to his office. She quickly made it up to his large office and found him seated behind his clockwork-themed desk. She walked inside with a guilty smile.

“Good afternoon, Miss Rose,” he greeted, looking up from his paperwork.

“Good afternoon…” she repeated, then sat down on his desk, putting up her usual cutesy front. “Sorry for running off Ozzy~” she cooed, giving him a lopsided smile. He hummed, giving her a flat look to signify he saw through her facade. She deflated slightly, then sighed. “Do you need any help with your paperwork?”

“No, I’m almost done. Then we can train some more,” he replied, his eyes shifting back down the papers in front of him. Ruby sighed, then decided to roam around his office since there was nothing else to do. She first walked to the large window behind his desk and looked out. She could see Vale, which made her think of the current distance that was between her and Roman. It made her a little bit sad, but also happy at the same time. He may not be the nicest person, but he was still the only family she’s had for… 7 years? She thought over it, not quite remembering how old she was when Roman took her in.

Then, she trod over to the mysterious elevator. She still couldn’t figure out where this thing went, her only guess being an emergency elevator. Her hand reached out to press the only button, an arrow pointing down, when Ozpin said, “Don’t touch that,” in his kind of scary, kind of hot, forceful tone of voice. Ruby dropped her hand, pouting at him. She walked back over to his desk, leaning against it with her arms crossed.

Finally, Ozpin dropped his pen and stood with a sigh. “Come on, and bring your scythe.”

Ruby cheered and quickly ran up to his flat and grabbed her precious Crescent Rose before joining him in front of the main elevator. He pressed the button and they both stepped in when the metal doors opened. Ruby was practically bouncing around, excited and hoping they were finally going to something other than basic training. Ozpin placed a hand on her shoulder and with one look, she calmed down with an embarrassed blush.

As soon as they stepped out of the elevator they walked out of the building and across the commons, towards the forest, Ozpin explaining the exercise on the way. “We’re going into the forest to hunt some Grimm, mostly for me to assess your skill in fighting something other than a human,” he said, his tone a little cynical.

“Ah… Um, I’ve never killed a Grimm before…” she said, a little bit bashfully.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. “You primarily use one of the best weapons for killing Grimm and you’ve never…” he sighed, stopping, “Never mind, I don’t think you should go anywhere near the forest, in that case. I should start you out on the practice dummies, or at least in a more controlled environment. I apologize for the lack of foresight.” He turned on his heel, and hey walked back to the school. To be fair, she hadn’t left the city much when she joined Roman.

While walking he messaged professor Port, asking him if they could use his classroom. Within minutes the professor answered, saying yes. They walked inside and he leads her to a somewhat familiar classroom.

He pulled a few cages out of a back room, setting them on the far side of the room. He pulled off his green blazer and vest, leaving him in just his green turtleneck. He rolled up his sleeves and brandished his cane. As he gripped the handle with one hand his other hand twisted the top, the cane making a few metallic clicks before it transformed into a sword. “I’ll demonstrate for you, some of the weak points to target,” he said while Ruby situated herself in one of the seats with her scythe in a seat next to her.

She watched closely as Ozpin swung his sword down, breaking the lock on one of the crates. A boarbatusk spun out, rolling to the other side of the room before skidding to a stop. While the boar-like Grimm readied itself to spin at him again, Ozpin spoke once more. “With the boarbatusk, it is easiest to aim for the stomach, as it has no armor there. If you have a more powerful weapon that can cut through the thick bone plating its back, then go ahead. For example’s sake, I will target the underside though.”

The boarbatusk charged again and Ozpin swiped his sword down, knocking it off its hooves and onto its back, then swung down to cut it in half. After a moment, it faded away into black dust. He stood straight up and twisted the top of the sword, changing it back to a cane. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. “Your turn now, Miss Rose.” Ruby looked visibly nervous as she hesitated to stand and grab her scythe. Ozpin sighed softly, “Don’t worry, I’ll be right here if things go awry,” which gave her a little bit of confidence.

She stepped down, switching her precious Crescent Rose to battle mode. She took a deep breath, assuming the same position as she thought Ozpin had. The professor clicked his tongue and walked over behind her, placing his hands on her lower arms to push them down a little bit and using the cane to bump her legs a little further apart. She blushed a little bit, feeling his breath on the back of her neck, giving her goosebumps. And the thought of him technically spreading her legs- she had to stop that thought there, as it made the heat between her legs a little damp. She gulped, not realizing that Ozpin had already walked away and was standing next to one of the crates with his cane reading to break open the lock.

By the time she had, it was too late and the crate sprung open, the agitated boarbatusk dashing out, and pummeling Ruby in the gut. She went flying back, the air being knocked out of her. While she was struggling to stand back up, the Grimm was already ready to hit her again and Ozpin was walking back over with his now-sword in hand. Ruby was panting, trying to regain her ability to breathe while her aura healed, and used her scythe’s sniper function to shoot the Grimm, pushing it back to give her another moment. As it started spinning, Ozpin hit it, knocking it over, then slashing through its newly exposed underside.

Ruby gave him an exasperated look, huffing. “Hey, I was handling it!” she said, her eyebrows knitting together in irritation.

“Miss Rose, you were about to be impaled by one of its tusks, I don’t think you were handling it very well,” he said, his tone somewhat sarcastic sounding.

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Just give me another chance!”

The professor sighed, “Fine.”

 

It took 4 hours and about 12 Grimm for Ruby to finally kill one on her own. When it happened she watched the black dust blow away with her face lighting up in excitement. She carefully placed Crescent Moon down and jumped with joy. She cheered for herself, and Ozpin cracked a small smile, her happiness was infectious. Ozpin turned his head away from her, just then noticing it was getting dark. He cleared his throat, his face turning serious once more.

“Sorry to cut your celebration short, but we should get dinner before the cafeteria closes,” he pulled a pocket watch out, checking the time to make sure they would have time to get there to eat.

Ruby nodded, picking up her weapon and collapsing it to clip it to the holster on the small of her back. Ozpin pushed the remaining two or three crates back into storage, locking the door tightly before they both left. The two briskly walked out and through the commons to get to the cafeteria. There were a few stragglers, a couple of teams still slowly eating their food as they chatted amiably. The two grabbed their food and sat down at an empty table to dig in. Ruby shoveled the food into her mouth, for once not caring if people were watching her. Who would have thought having your ass kicked was such hungry work?

Soon she was done and got up to dispose of her dishes. She walked back to the table where Ozpin was only halfway through his meal. “Hey Ozzy, I’ll be out in the courtyard waiting for you.” he nodded, waving his hand to dismiss her.

As soon as she stepped out into the cool air, she took a deep breath. There was a slow, somewhat chilly breeze blowing through the commons, making her cape flap in the wind and her hair get into her face. She pushed a strand of hair behind her back before continuing on towards a bench. She looked up, gazing at the stars. Winter was fast approaching, and because of it, it felt so much later than it really was. Ozpin had said it was only about 7 PM, meaning that they could still train for a couple hours before he’d release her. Her words, not his. Somewhere near where she was sitting, a crow cawed softly.

As she gazed into the limitless sky above her, her brain began filling with thoughts that she had held off until now. The number one thought was Roman. He was in her thoughts constantly, but somehow never when she was around Ozpin. She kind of missed the green-eyed mobster, despite the bruises and scars she would get from him. She knew it was just because he loved her… Yeah, he had to… She smiled a tiny bit, thinking about him. Sure, he had his bad moments, but didn’t everyone? Plus, they just worked well together. He might taunt her or make fun of her, but he still respected her wishes to not have sex until she was older. He had been pushing a little bit more than usual before she had initially left, but she figured it was just because he knew he would miss her… They still played around with each other, but it was never anything serious and mostly happened when he was drunk, and pushed her a little bit.

Ruby heard footsteps approaching, and she quickly shook those thoughts from her head with an embarrassed blush. She sincerely hoped he wasn’t a mind reader, or else she wasn’t sure she’d be able to look him in the eyes ever again, not that she was even really able to anyway. She stood up as he walked past, and followed behind him. They walked out, away from campus towards the forest once again.

“Um… Professor… Didn’t you say I was too inexperienced to be out here?” she asked in a meek voice.

“Yes, something like that. Don’t worry, we’re not out here to fight any Grimm. I want to show you something before we head in for the night,” he said in a don’t-question-me tone.

She nodded slowly, even though he couldn’t see it.

As they walked down the path, orange and brown leaves crunched under their shoes, and far away she heard the howl of a beowolf. Ruby tensed up, and she moved closer to Ozpin, her hand gripping the back of his coat like a toddler. He reached out behind him, placing his hand on the small of her back, right above where Crescent Rose was clipped on, and pushed her beside him. When she was walking the same pace as him, she figured he would drop his hand, but she could still feel the heat of his fingertips pressed against her back. She let out a small sigh in relief, relaxing her posture somewhat. She was glad he could tell how she was feeling and did something to help. She looked up at him, just barely able to make out his profile in the dim moonlight.

Her heart sped up a little bit and for a moment she wondered if she was about to have another panic attack, but she didn’t feel the usual closed-throat or tight chest. Her face heated up a little bit when they locked eyes for a moment, and she swiftly looked away. He dropped his hand from her back, and she immediately missed the contact. Still not wanting to let go, she lightly held onto his sleeve.

They walked down the path for awhile, before branching off into a more dense part of the forest. Ruby wanted to ask if he knew where he was going but didn’t want to break the heavy silence that surrounded them. Also, she didn’t want any creatures of Grimm to hear her and come for them.

Soon, they came upon a relatively tranquil part of the forest where there was a very small clearing. It was a slightly lopsided circle of grass, surrounded by very thick bushes and tightly packed trees. The place they stepped in seemed to be the only place where anything bigger than a rabbit could squeeze in, meaning they couldn’t be interrupted. “Sit down,” Ozpin instructed.

Ruby didn’t hesitate to do what she was told, sitting down with her legs crossed. He joined her, sitting crossed legged as well. “This is where I sometimes come to meditate and think on my feelings. This place… should help with your anxiety,” he said in a soft, soothing voice. “There’s no chance of any kind of Grimm sneaking up on you, nor any other person to bother you. It’s a good place to sort through confusing thoughts, and to train your aura,” Ruby opened her mouth to ask, but Ozpin spoke before her, “We will train your aura much later, I don’t think you’re ready just yet.” The redhead pouted, and Ozpin continued, “We’ll start with meditation. Hold your hands together in your lap, and close your eyes.” She did so, pausing momentarily to gaze into Ozpin’s dull copper-brown eyes, before closing her silver ones. “Now, focus on your breathing. How you inhale and exhale and how your body moves with every breath in and out.”

Ruby slowly exhaled, her shoulders slumping slightly, and then inhaled, perking back up. While doing this she slowly felt her focus had turned to other matters. Undoubtedly moving on to think about the man in front of her. She was conflicted because he was much older than her but whenever they would lock eyes she could feel her heart speed up. When he smiled, her heart fluttered. And when he praised her, her heart soared!

Her thoughts were quickly shut down with Ozpin’s voice, “I can feel you thinking from here. Don’t focus on anything other than your breathing, Miss Rose.”

“R-right, sorry…” she sighed, and continued to think about her breathing once more.

Soon, instead of slipping into a relaxed state of mind like she was supposed to, Ruby began dozing off. She was startled awake when she had started to tip over, her tired body no longer supporting her wish to remain upright. Ozpin chuckled at her bewildered expression, standing up and holding his hand out for her to stand up as well. “That’s enough, I should put you to bed now,” he stated with a slightly playful gleam in his eye.

“P-put me-” Ruby was surprised outwardly, but on the inside she was giddy. She lightly placed her hand in his, using him as support as she shakily stood up.  

Ozpin chuckled once again, her reaction just what he was hoping for. He gently pushed her forward, towards their entrance, and then dropped his hand.

The walk back to campus seemed to take almost an hour, much longer than the trek into the forest had taken. Once they had emerged from the thick forest, Ruby quickened her pace at the thought of crawling into her warm bed and sleeping for as long as she possibly could. Plus, the next day was Sunday so she was sure Ozpin would give her the day off. At this time, the poor girl was so tired she was stumbling over loose rocks and such that if any other person saw her, they’d probably think she was quite a bit tipsy.

Finally, _finally_ , they had made it to the main tower and were en route to the elevator to take them up to his office and then his flat. Ruby wasted no time walking to the bathroom to take a hot shower, then settling into bed after putting on some pajamas.

After a few moments of getting comfortable, Ruby fell into a somewhat peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make this one a little bit longer.. ^^; I decided to upload this today, instead of waiting until Monday. 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading!~ ٩(⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)۶


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interrupted stroll through downtown Vale.

As if the gods had answered Ruby’s wish, Ozpin had agreed to let her take Sunday off. “Unless, of course, you would  _ like _ to train, which then just seek me out and we can practice more with Grimm.” He had said to her. She nodded and went back to her room to sleep for another couple hours. 

Ruby finally emerged from her cocoon around nine in the morning, for once feeling refreshed after sleeping instead of more tired. She stepped into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee, taking a tentative sip and cringing slightly when she found it to be cold. She dumped it into the sink and placed the dirty mug on the counter. “Guess I’ll just buy a cup in the cafeteria…” She mused quietly to herself with a slightly exasperated smile. 

She walked back to her room and flicked the light on, walking over to the closet so she could get dressed. She flipped through the few outfits she owned and decided on her usual. She pulled out a black, sleeveless turtleneck sweater that had an upside-down triangle cut out of the front to show off her cleavage. Ruby was never much of a fan of revealing clothing, but Torchwick loved it so she wore it to make him happy. She pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans, then her favorite pair of well worn black and red boots, paired with her large red belt with dust sniper rounds attached to the side. Since it was starting to get nippy outside, she fastened the thicker of her two red cloaks and grabbed Crescent Rose before heading out. 

She walked to the cafeteria and paid for a small latte before stepping out to wait for one of the scheduled airships so she could ride down to Vale. Checking the time on her watch, she noted it wouldn’t be for another five minutes. While she was standing around with a few other students, she heard light footsteps treading towards her. 

Looking to the side, she saw Qrow approaching her, his stride slow and self-assured. Once he was next to her, she huffed and crossed her arms. “Whatever happened to watching from a  _ distance _ ?” She asked, her voice dripping with annoyance.

“Oh, you’re not happy to see your favorite Uncle?” He retaliated, smirking.

She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re my  _ only _ Uncle from my knowledge. Even then, I don’t believe you’re my favorite.” 

The older man chuckled, taking another long drink for his flask before talking again. “Even without growing up with his influence, you still have Tai’s spirit. Look, kiddo, let’s just take a day to catch up.”

“Fine…” She said. Despite agreeing to his little ‘catch up’, she kept her defenses raised. She didn’t want a man like him, who obviously flit in and out of people's’ lives as he pleased, to get anywhere near her heart. 

Finally, the airship flew in at its leisurely speed, settling with its ramp out on the end of the cliffside. Ruby, Qrow, and the other students waiting around then shuffled to the ship, boarding seemingly as slow as possible. Soon enough the ship took off, and in about ten minutes landed in a station in the middle of Vale. 

Ruby and Qrow left and began walking down one of the streets, Ruby mostly leading the way. She had a specific place in mind that she wanted to visit before they did anything else. Luckily, the redhead knew the layout of the city like the back of her hand. Though she was definitely more familiar with the seedy part of the city, she still knew her way around. 

For once, Qrow was mostly silent as they walked, making Ruby smirk inwardly. He seemed confident about talking before, but now he had completely clammed up. 

Suddenly, Ruby stopped in front of a small store, making Qrow bump into her back. “Jeez, what was that for?” He questioned, sounding a little bit miffed. 

“Nothing.” She snapped. She turned and walked into the shop with Qrow following suit.

He rolled his eyes behind her. “You came all this way to get some clothes?” He asked. Then, he found himself laughing. “I really shouldn’t be this surprised. Even the scariest criminals love shopping too-  _ oof! _ ” He was cut off by Ruby’s elbow connecting with his abdomen, almost making him vomit just from the force. 

“Shut up.” She said with gritted teeth. “You didn’t have to come with me.”

“ _ Hmph. _ ” He pouted, crossing his arms. To Ruby, he just looked like a really childish adult and wasn’t really accomplishing anything by doing so except for earning himself a small snort from her. 

Finally earning some peace and quiet from her  _ babysitter _ , she began looking through the racks. She was trying to find something much warmer than the all of the clothes Torchwick had bought for her. This was a secondhand shop, but she really loved it. Whenever Roman would let her pick out something herself she always came here because most of the clothes followed the same red and black motif that she loved so much. 

Silently, Ruby flicked through everything in her size on one rack and moved on to the other with a sigh. After a few minutes of searching, she had put together an outfit. She picked out an under-breast strapped white corset with red strings a red border around the top and bottom, a loose black blouse, and a pair black of thick leggings which had a light grey vine of red roses running down the outer side of her legs. She walked to one of the dressing rooms in the back to try it on. After a moment, she emerged, clipping her cloak in place over it, to pull the outfit together. She twisted and turned in the mirror, attempting to see herself from all angles. She put her belt back on, and looked at the outfit with it on as well, and gave her reflection a small nod. 

She walked up to the counter with her old clothes in hand, paying for the new ones and putting her old ones in a bag. During this whole thing, Qrow remained uncharacteristically silent. For one, he didn’t want her to snap at him again. 

The main reason, however, was that he couldn’t help but look at her in a new light. She was much more grown-up than he thought she was. She definitely wasn’t a little girl, like last time he had seen her. At seventeen she was much more mature physically. Her hips were wide, her waist was tiny, and her breasts were just bigger than average, and very much supported by her new corset. Qrow’s red eyes shifted from her chest down and imagined that despite her smallish figure she must have been very toned. Flat, hard stomach. Taut little butt. Long, smooth legs… He had to snap himself out of his little fantasy before he grew a hard-on in public. 

Before he knew it, she was walking out of the shop and he was following her. The older man cleared his throat before speaking up. “So, what made you want to be a scythe wielder?” He asked her. 

She thought it over for a moment, trying to recall what exactly had compelled her to use the gaudy thing as a weapon instead of something much less conspicuous. “Hmm… I don’t remember. I just thought it looked cool. Plus, I love cool looking weapons.” 

Qrow had to fight every instinct in his body to not facepalm. One of the most talked about criminals, which used one of the  _ scariest _ and most  _ dangerous _ weapons only used it for the aesthetic? Despite somewhat wanting to strangle the girl next to him, he bit his tongue. She was finally talking to him, and he didn’t want to spoil that. “Oh? Did you make yours by yourself?” 

“Yup!” She chirped, much like a bird. “I designed her and made her all on my own.” Ruby unfastened the red scythe from the holster on her back and held it out to him. She always loved to brag or show off her skills when it came to her beloved Crescent Rose. “Do you want to see her?”

He cocked a smile in her direction and gently took the weapon from her smaller hands. Qrow weighed it in his hands before opening it to its battle form. He gave it a few spins, then compressed it to its sniper form to shoot off a round in a direction void of people. When he tried to fire another, he found it had jammed instead. Ruby seemed a little embarrassed at this. “Ah… She does that sometimes. I haven’t figured out why just yet…” He chuckled and assured her it was fine. He collapsed it down to it’s most compact form and handed it back to her. She clipped it back to the holster.

“Good design and craftsmanship. It seems a little off balance between the head and the handle, and I believe the chamber is probably too narrow. Other than that, this is a very sturdy weapon. I think-” Qrow was about to launch into a very long, very in-depth lecture about the importance of the ratio of height to the height of scythe and how it can affect the power of the swing, but was promptly cut off by a very haughty voice a couple meters behind them. 

“Why, Red I thought I was the only one you allowed touch your toys.” 

Ruby whipped around, nearly giving herself whiplash, to see Roman standing there in all his glory, with a small girl with bi-colored hair standing behind him. Ruby’s face lit up and she ran over, jumping a few feet in front of him to latch onto him in her version of a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his white coat, breathing in the bitter scent of his cigars and cheap cologne. She pulled away and pecked his cheek. He shrugged her embrace off and straightened his jacket. “What did I say about hugging in public?” The mobster said, somewhat harshly. 

The petite redhead looked to the ground, biting her lip. “...Sorry…” Her hands fidgeted in front of her. Torchwick sighed, rolling his eyes at her suddenly timid nature. Qrow watched this exchange with contempt in his red eyes but didn’t step in just yet. He wanted to observe the way they interacted more. 

“Anyway, how goes it Little Red? Haven’t heard much from you in the past few days. Been getting worried you’ve turned your back on us.” He used his cane to push her head up so that their eyes met. “You haven’t turned your back on the White Fang,  _ right _ ?” She quickly nodded, sparing a single glance towards Qrow. She didn’t want the other man to see this side of her. Already, she was formulating excuses about their behavior.  _ He’s not usually like this. He’s really sweet when we’re alone, I swear. He’s just nervous, I’m sure. _ “Good, good. Since you’ve been gone, I’ve gotten a new stand-in. Ruby, Neo. Neo, Ruby.” The girl now known as Neo gave a small wave with a cocky smile as if she were saying ‘he’s mine now’. 

Ruby’s eyes narrowed at the girl. “So you’ve replaced me?” She asked, her voice laced with venom.

Roman, in turn, glared down at her, his green eyes flashing a warning. “Don’t speak to me like that.” He said, his voice rivaling her’s in terms of anger.

The warning in his eyes made Ruby back down, taking an actual step back. “Yes… Right, sorry Sir…” She turned her head to look at Qrow, who was looking at her with pity in his eyes. She turned back, unshed tears burning in her eyes. “I’ve… Got to go.  _ Errands… _ ” 

She turned her body to start walking away, but Roman grabbed her arm roughly to stop her. He pulled her closer to him, so that her body was pressing against his, and placed his hand on the small of her back above Crescent Rose to keep her there. Ruby’s mind flashed back to when she was walking to the forest with Ozpin, how he had placed his hand in that exact spot. Then, it was a comforting heat, one that calmed her nerves and made her relax her posture. Roman touch made her shrink away from his hand, which only pushed herself closer to him. He dipped his head down to whisper in her ear. As he did, he made sure to make eye contact with Qrow, only angering the older man more. “Why don’t you and I ditch the old man here, hmm? Warm up my bed a little bit?” He said, his warm breath fanning over her neck and making her shiver. 

Ruby bit her lip, very much wanting that. The idea of the girl Roman used to replace her sharing his bed made her furious, and she wanted to prove that she would always be his number one. But… “I w-would, but I’m not allowed to leave  _ his _ sight… Headmaster’s orders…” 

This fact didn’t seem to discourage Roman in the slightest. “Oh? I don’t mind having an audience, Red, never stopped me before.” He chuckled but released her when he saw Qrow start to take a step forward. He sighed dramatically and flipped his orange hair out of his eye. “ _ Fine. _ Go on and break my heart. See you later, Red.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her deeply, his cigar breath penetrating her mouth and making her want to gag. Then, he pulled away and turned, sauntering off as he lit a cigar. Ruby’s replacement obediently followed after him.

Ruby spun around and saw Qrow still standing there with his arms crossed and that same look on his face. She walked over, her face looking a little bit ashamed. Of herself or of Roman’s actions, Qrow couldn’t be sure. “He’s… Not usually like that…” She assured him, her eyes unable to meet his. “He just missed me…” 

“Uh huh…” He peered over her shoulder, watching as Torchwick grabbed Neo’s behind, and she appeared to giggle and playfully hit him. “Are you two a couple, then?”

The redhead smiled a little at the question. “Yeah… He can get kind of mean sometimes but I love him, and he loves me. He buys me stuff all the time, and we cuddle a lot.” Her smile widened as she spoke, making sure to leave out any of the bad details. Such as how when he drank he sometimes hit her, or when he would force her to do things. She didn’t want Qrow to look at her the way some of her friends in the White Fang did when she slipped and mentioned it. Or tell her that their relationship was wrong. 

_ It wasn’t wrong! _ She thought to herself,  _ all relationships had bumps, plus he was and is my first ever relationship. _ And… Well, he wasn’t the only one who did the hitting. Sometimes when they would fight really bad, she would hit him back. She’s left more than her fair share of bruises on his skin, and she regretted it every time. Thinking about it now made her feel a little sad.

Often times she didn’t mean to, he just said things that made her really angry. She assumed the same was for him. 

“Sounds nice,” Qrow said, and the subject was dropped after that. 

They continued to walk in silence, stopping to get lunch at Ruby’s favorite noodle shop before heading back to campus. 

It seemed as though it would take a lot more time before these two were comfortable with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Qrow centered chapter, huzzah! Thanks so very very much to Ardianna for helping me get through this chapter. More Ozpin chapters are soon to come!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ozpin struggles to get anything done.

Ruby snuck back into Ozpin’s flat sometime after dark. Her and Qrow had spent an extra two or three hours or so walking around talking about weapon theory, though focused mostly on whether or not a scythe was too much when it came it to killing a human. Ruby thought that it wasn’t, it just got a little extra messy. Qrow thought it was too big, and could sometimes maim other people in the vicinity. Ruby had remarked that that was what was great about it since it could produce more results with less effort. Then they had gone on discussing if it was really “less effort” if it required more force to plow through more people. Of course, this was a very morbid topic to be discussing with a seventeen-year-old, but it was one of the few things the two had in common and Qrow didn’t want the conversation to dissolve into awkward silence again like it had previously.  
When Ruby had walked into the front door, she found Ozpin sitting in a chair in the living room with a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and a book in the other. He peered up at her over the rims of his small glasses. “You’re home late.” He stated, his gaze turning back down to his book.   
“Yeah,” she laughed a little bit to herself. “Qrow and I started talking about weapons and just couldn’t stop!” She was in too good of a mood to remember she was supposed to be cold towards him. She unclipped her cloak and tossed it over the back of the couch.  
“Ah yes, Qrow has always had such a fondness for weapons,” Ozpin said as he marked his place in his book and set it don’t to give her his attention. This startled Ruby a little bit, as she was used to Roman basically ignoring her when she talked, only giving her a small “uh huh” or “yup” in reply.   
“Uh…” She trailed off as her train of thought escaped her. Quickly she wrangled it back and continued. “I’ve noticed. It’s nice to finally have someone who loves cool weapons like I do! Everyone in the White Fang was so serious about their weapons, it was boring! All of their weapons were really boring too. They mainly only used guns or knives. Like, where’s the fun in that?” She huffed and threw herself on the couch, resting her head on the armrest.   
“Yes, well, to be fair they don’t really need as high powered weapons as we do as hunters. Grimm can be much more resilient than humans in terms of natural armor.” He said though he was a little amused at Ruby’s reaction to how “boring” the White Fang was. There aren’t very many people who will refer to a terrorist organization as “boring”.   
“Hmm…” Ruby thought that over for a moment. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It still sucks, though.” She let out a somewhat dreamy sigh. “Qrow said he’d help me tweak Crescent Rose sometime soon, I’m so excited! Although I haven’t seen his scythe in action yet, I know it just has to be awesome!”  
Ozpin chuckled at that. “That it is. I can tell you from experience Blood Moon is not a weapon to be messed with. Though not to brag, it was based on my Aerondight.”  
It took a moment to process that statement. “Wait… Did you train Qrow?!” She had hopped up and was hanging over the edge of the couch to get closer to him to look into his eyes. When he gave her a small, amused, nod she squealed. “Oh, my Gods! That’s so cool! Does that mean Aerondight can transform into a scythe too?!” He nodded again. “Could you please please please teach me some of your moves? If you trained Qrow that means you must be ten times better than him, right?” Her silver eyes were shining like one of the million stars in the sky, and Ozpin couldn’t tear his own eyes away from them. He started to nod once again, but quickly caught himself and shook his head. “Aww, why not?”  
He cleared his throat. “I don’t wield a scythe anymore. They’re too dangerous.” He said curtly. “Anyway, shouldn’t you be heading to bed? You have to be up early tomorrow for practice.” He stood, taking his book and now-cold hot chocolate and walked away, effectively ending the conversation.   
Ruby pouted and sat back on the couch, crossing her arms. Why did he suddenly get so cold? She pondered. It’s not like I said anything wrong.  
With a shrug of her shoulders, and slunk to her room to change out of her clothes and into a plain white tank top and a pair of black underwear with a rose pattern. She laid under the covers for an hour or two before slowly succumbing to the powerful force of sleep.

Around 6:30 in the morning, Ozpin stepped into Ruby’s smallish room to wake her. She was sleeping somewhat restfully, and Ozpin somewhat regretted having to interrupt that. He reached over her and threw open the curtains that hung behind her bed, letting the bright morning light stream in. Ruby let out a groan and pulled her blanket up over her head to block out the sunlight.   
“No, no,” he said as he grabbed the covers to pull them back. “I’ve let you sleep long enough. We still need to practice before you go to your classes.” Ruby’s only response to that was another groan and feeble attempt at pulling the covers over her head. Oz sighed. “I didn’t want to have to do this.” He gripped the end of the blanket and ripped it off of her, exposing her barely-clothed body to the cold air. Ruby let out a small yelp and hopped out of bed.   
“Ozpin!” She squealed. “That’s just rude!”  
He chuckled at her. “It may be, but it worked, didn’t it?”  
Ruby glared at him and grumbled about needing a shower before storming off. Ozpin watched with an amused smile as her underwear-clad ass swayed with her steps. Oz walked back to the kitchen to start making her some breakfast.   
By the time he was almost done, Ruby emerged from the bathroom wearing the new outfit she had gotten the night before, with the exception of her cloak since it was still laying on the couch from the night before. Ozpin looked her up and down, nodding slightly to himself. “Your new outfit is very becoming. Much better than the stuff you wore before.” He commented, making Ruby blush a little bit as she looked down at herself.   
“Yeah, well... Roman liked them, and I like pleasing him.” She replied as she sat down at the counter.   
“Hmm. Did he make you wear such things?” He asked with a somewhat concerned tone of voice.   
“No! Of course not!” Her voice squeaked a bit as she got defensive. “I said he liked it when I did! That doesn’t mean I had to! I- I-” She started to stammer nervously. Quickly she shut her mouth to clear her throat before she attempted to start talking again. “I did what I did because I wanted to,” she said in a haughty tone as if she had injected her voice with false confidence.   
“Mmhm,” Ozpin hummed, though his expression hinted at his true feelings of doubt towards her statement.   
Ruby’s bit of confidence dropped when she had caught on that he didn’t believe a word she was saying. Instead of dropping the topic, she began digging herself into a deeper hole. “I’m telling the truth! I love him, he would never do anything to hurt me-” She immediately cut herself off by pressing her hands to her mouth.   
The older man raised an eyebrow at that. “I never mentioned him hurting you.”  
“No… I’m sure you did…” She looked around, trying to find something to blame her slip up on.   
“Ruby…” He said, his voice concerned as he took a tentative step towards her.   
The redhead felt her chest tighten, and she took a step back. Her vision started blurring, and she took another step back. “I’m sorry, I-” She clapped a hand over her mouth again, and rushed out of the room as she felt bile rise in her throat. Ruby ran to the bathroom and dropped to her knees in front of the toilet, emptying her stomach of last night’s dinner. Within a few seconds, she felt Ozpin holding the longer parts of her hair back so she wouldn’t get any vomit on it. She had to clutch the sides of the porcelain seat as dry heaves shook her body. When they finally subsided, she sat back, resting all of her weight on Ozpin’s legs. He sat down with his legs underneath him, letting her rest her head on his chest, with her back on his knees.   
He lightly ran his fingers through her hair, his blunt fingernails soothingly scraping over her scalp. She let out a small sigh, her eyes fluttering shut. “I’m sorry…” She said in a slightly gravelly voice. Her throat was somewhat dry from the acid bile in her throat.   
“Don’t apologize. I should be the one saying sorry for prying. But Ruby, if Torchwick had ever… Laid a hand on you, please don’t keep that to yourself. It’s not right for someone like him to do that, not to you.” Ozpin said, his voice soft and comforting.   
Ruby nodded a little bit and looked up at him. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as their eyes connected, copper clashing with silver, and she felt her face heat up. She could finally see the care she had been trying not to. Without realizing it, she hadn’t been letting him in, but now she saw that maybe the headmaster wasn’t as bad as she first thought he was. Closed her eyes again, and let out a small sigh. Then, she sat up, to look him in the eyes again. Despite every nerve in her body telling her not to ruin this agreement they had come to, she had to do it. “There is nothing wrong with me and Roman. Anything that happens between us is our business and not your problem. Please keep your thoughts to yourself.” She said in a snooty tone, and stood up and walked away.   
Ozpin stayed on the bathroom floor, a little bit shocked at her harsh words. Though, he should have been expecting her to deny it. The poor girl couldn’t see what was right in front of her eyes: Roman was abusive. It was obvious even to Ozpin, and he has barely known the girl for more than a few weeks. He heard her footsteps in the living room, and then he heard the front door open and slam closed.   
Ozpin sighed and stood up to flush the remains of Ruby’s meal down the toilet, then walked out of the bathroom. He finished up making breakfast and got himself a plate. After finishing up his meal, he put the leftovers in the fridge for Ruby if she got hungry later. Without realizing it, he had started to care for her. She was a misguided soul, a character trope he has always had a soft spot for. Ozpin walked to his room and the bathroom that connected to it to get ready for the day. He started by taking a quick shower, then shaving, and dressing in his usual green-themed outfit. He locked eyes with himself in the mirror as he was fixing the brooch on his ascot.   
His hands paused and he took in his own appearance. Dark circles under his eyes from another sleepless night, pale skin from lack of direct sunlight, and the ever-present white-grey of his hair. Ozpin finished clipping the brooch on and ran a hand through his locks of hair. He couldn’t help but let out a small sigh before continuing with his routine. He walked back to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and then downstairs to his office. He had quite a bit of preparation to work on for the Vytal festival that was coming up next month. Already the students were practicing in Glynda’s class.   
Ozpin, ever the efficient one, was surprised as his thoughts wandered back to the redhead that often occupied his thoughts. He wondered how she was doing in Glynda’s class. He knew the girl was good at fighting, and killing, humans but he wasn’t sure how she was at fighting and not killing other humans. He hoped she hadn’t hurt anyone yet. Though, he was sure if she had she would have been sent to his office by now, right? Yes, yes, he assured himself. She was fine. Glynda was a great teacher, and she surely wasn’t the first homicidal student to walk through those doors. That wasn’t a very comforting thought but it did the trick and booted Ruby out of his thoughts for a moment so he could get some work done.   
After about an hour he had gotten through half of the stack of papers on his desk and successfully kept his thoughts on the work in front of him. Then the little parasite that was his current student crept back into his mind. He wasn’t sure how he was able to work without thinking about her. Ruby had left angry, and upset! How was she doing now? Had she acted up in any of her classes? Or worse, was she just keeping it all inside and letting it fester until she hurt someone? Ozpin dearly hoped that if Qrow noticed her steaming, he would have swept in and talked to her. Ozpin knew the two of them would hit it off, being that Ruby and Qrow both had the same mindset despite not knowing each other for long.   
He shook her out of his head for another couple hours before worrying again. Gosh, why was thinking about this girl so addicting? He checked his watch and saw it was in the middle of lunch. He remembered the panic attack she had around lunchtime on Saturday and quickly stood up. He had to make sure she was alright. Plus, he needed to soothe his consciousness.   
Ozpin fast walked to the elevator, then downstairs, across the courtyard, and burst into the cafeteria. Everyone turned to look at him, including Ruby who was sitting at a table with Qrow. They were both mid-laugh when he walked in, and still had a hint of a smile on their faces. Ozpin let out a small sigh of relief and walked the rest of the way into the cafeteria. He figured since he was already there, he might as well get some lunch and join them.   
He grabbed a plate of whatever they were serving and took a seat at the table with Ruby and Qrow, sitting closer to Qrow as he knew Ruby might still be mad at him.   
“Hello.” He said, sounding a little stiff.   
“Hiya, Ozzy!” Ruby chirped, much more bright than she had been that morning.  
“How goes it, Oz?” Qrow asked, his voice rough as per usual.  
“Just trying to finish up some paperwork for the Vytal festival next month.” He said, then took a small bite of his food.   
“Ohh, huh. I forgot about that! Am I allowed to compete?” Ruby asked, sounding almost a little hopeful. Qrow and Ozpin exchanged looks, then looked back at Ruby. She raised an eyebrow and laughed somewhat nervously from suddenly being the center of attention. “What? Haha, think I’m not good enough?”   
“Well…” Qrow trailed off, looking to Ozpin to explain it to her.   
“You see… You’re not exactly at the same level as most of the other competitors…” Ozpin started, and Ruby already looked disappointed. “Well, how are you doing in your combat class?”  
Ruby grimaced at that question. “Well…” She said in almost the exact same way Qrow had, making the aforementioned man chuckle.   
“Yeah, sorry kiddo we just don’t think you’re ready just yet,” Qrow said.   
“Agreed. To be fair, you can barely kill a Grimm. I doubt you’d be able to take out someone who will be killing Grimm for a living.”  
Ruby sighed dramatically, as she always seemed to do, and pouted. “I know you’re right but it still sucks.” She said, crossing her arms and slouching.   
“Don’t worry, kid, you’ll get there eventually,” Qrow said with a chuckle.  
“And stop calling me kid!” Ruby shouted playfully.  
“I’ll stop calling you that when you stop acting like it!” Qrow shouted back, equally as playful.   
Ruby huffed and stuck her tongue out at him, and Qrow did the same. Ozpin chuckled, sitting back and just watching them fight like children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Ardianna for being amazing (as always~) And to Kry Heart because she's such a sweetie. Love you guys! :*


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby isn't the sneakiest at texting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta change the rating after this :P

As the days went by, Ruby found herself getting used to the somewhat rough routine Oz had set for her. She still had trouble getting up so early in the morning, as she hadn’t had to so such a thing since… well, never. She wasn’t in school when her family died, and Roman never sent her to school. Ruby learned through observation, a habit which she still hasn’t dropped. Her classes weren’t doing so well, especially the ones which required reading-based assignments. She still hadn’t been able to ask Oz for help, as she was still trying warm up to him.

Another change that Ruby hadn’t noticed was she gradually forgot about Roman. The ginger was still there in the back of her mind, but she didn’t find herself consciously missing him. It was more of a dull ache which eventually faded with time. With the lack of contact, as Oz still hadn’t given her back her scroll and she hasn’t been able to leave campus since, she just didn’t think about it.

It also helped that Oz didn’t really give Ruby the _time_ to think about anything other than Oz, training, or schoolwork. Ozpin had her wake up early, train, go to classes, come back and do her homework, train, eat, go to bed. Every day was like that, and while Ruby was slowly getting used to it, it didn’t stop her from complaining almost every time he made her do something such as running, sparring, lifting, or the occasional yoga. For Ruby, yoga was the _worst_ of it all.  She was as inflexible as a stone and while Oz assured her she just had to practice to get better, she felt as though it was all just a waste of time. Though he did say if she got better at yoga, he’d let her start doing gymnastics once or twice a week as needed. Being limber was a great asset for fighting Grimm, especially for one of her size.

These long days slowly turned into short weeks and before Ruby could realize, a month and a week went by. 

With the sun low in the sky, Ozpin entered Ruby’s room to wake her up and was surprised to find her already awake. She was sitting up in bed, with her legs over the edge, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. In the early morning red sun highlighting her features, she looked nearly angelic.

“Good morning.” He greeted, standing straight and wiping the surprised look from his features.

Ruby yawned before replying. “Mornin’... Remind me again why I have to be up this early?”

Oz chuckled. “You _do_ want to get better at fighting, don’t you?”

She shrugged at that, yawning again before standing up. “Yeah, yeah. I’m up so you can go now.” Ruby said with a playful smile as she lightly pushed him towards the door. She knew realistically she would never be able to _actually_ get him to budge, but he obliged anyway.

“You have ten minutes to get ready!” He quickly said before she shut the door in his face. He laughed and walked to the kitchen to make them breakfast.

Ruby got dressed, brushed her hair, and was in the kitchen at the time Ozpin had specified.

“Good girl, for that you get a reward.” He said, his smile showing sincere praise but his eyes burning with something a little darker.

“And what’s that…?” Ruby was a tiny bit scared.

“I’ll only make you run five laps around campus! Now eat up, you need the energy.” Oz said, placing a plate of breakfast foods in front of her. His demeanor, in Ruby’s opinion, was much too cheery for how early it was.

Ruby groaned loudly and pouted at him. “That’s not a reward, that’s a punishment!” She complained.

“No, a punishment would be a spanking and twenty laps. I’m being generous.” Oz replied smugly.

“I-” Ruby paused, not really having any good reply to that since he technically was correct. Choosing to ignore the “spanking” part of what he just said since it made her legs press together in something akin to excitement, Ruby continued. “Fine, I’ll accept my reward with dignity.”

“Wise choice,” Ozpin said, his signature smirk stretching across his lips.

Ruby gave him a confused look before actually saying something. “Okay, why are you in such a good mood?”

“Hmm, no reason. It must just be a nice day.” He said, then ended the conversation by digging into his plate of food, prompting Ruby to do the same.

 

***

Ozpin finished his breakfast and had to wait around for Ruby, who was prolonging her training by eating as slowly as possible. “Come on Ruby, it’s not that bad. If you get through this without complaint I’ll give you a _real_ reward later.” He said, trying to motivate her.

Ruby looked up at him, her eyes similar to that of a puppy. “Promise?”

Oz rolled his eyes and smiled. “Yes, promise.” She smiled brightly and scarfed down the rest of her food in less than a couple seconds.

“Okay, let’s go!”

She sped out and out the door, rose petals falling in her wake. Then, sped back in to grab her cloak and scythe and back out again. Oz followed her at a more dignified pace, chuckling to himself at how much of an airhead she could be.

They made it down to the courtyard and Oz took out his scroll, to pull up a stopwatch. “I’ll time you. You should be able to do each lap in about five minutes, so I’ll mark your every lap.”

Ruby nodded, desperately biting back a complaint. “Okay.”

“Ready?” Oz asked. Ruby got into a running stance, then nodded. “Go!”

Ruby took off in a sprint. It only took but a couple minutes for Ruby’s legs, mainly her calves, to start burning with the energy it took to use them. Within the next couple minutes, her lungs and chest were burning as well and her mouth was going dry. She had to continue, tough as it was she really wanted to know what Oz was going to give her as a reward. Thinking about it, Ruby realized she should have asked him what the reward even was.

Ruby passed Ozpin after about seven minutes and he marked her time with a slight frown. From just a glance he could tell she was already quite winded, and they were only on lap one!

It was quite surprising to Ozpin that a girl like this, clumsy, lazy, and unfit, could have commit mass murder. That this same girl who could barely even maim a Grimm could kill many of the more prominent figures of Vale, seemingly with ease. _This_ girl could bypass the most elite security systems, take out guards thrice her size, and do all of this without even being caught once. She had even gotten cocky enough to _leave_ evidence, in the form of her rose petals. Anyone who knew Ruby would know that they were _her_ rose petals. So, Ozpin wondered, how is it that she was even capable of leaving authorities scratching their heads for so long?

Ozpin shook the thoughts from his head as he marked down her time again, this time it took her eight minutes. He let out a sigh. If she followed this pattern, her fifth lap would take eleven minutes, over twice as long as it was supposed to. Oz knew Ruby was going to be tired after this, too, and they still had to spar some. This was going to be a long day.

 

***

 

Ruby finished up her classes, more exhausted than ever. Having to run five miles before going to class was probably the worst experience Ruby has had to live through, and now she had to train with Ozpin even _more_. Ruby thought that with as much training as she’s been receiving in the past weeks, she would have built up some form of stamina but still she was out of shape.

Trudging as slowly as possible, Ruby still arrived at Oz’s office sooner than she had wanted to. She found him where he always was, seated behind his large desk filling out papers. When she had walked in, Oz was mid-drink of his hot chocolate and looked up at her. He gulped down his drink and set the mug down.

“Good afternoon, Miss Rose. How were your classes?” He asked in that dignified manner that really rubbed Ruby the wrong way.

Ruby threw herself down on the couch Ozpin had added to his office space specifically for her lounging, and so she’d stop sitting on his desk. She let out an overly dramatic sigh, looking up at him with the saddest eyes she could muster. “It was awful! My entire body was so sore from running, and I had to go to sparring in Professor Goodwitch’s class!” Ozpin half-grinned at Ruby’s use of “Professor”, knowing that a term of respect such as that had surely been sorely enforced, as Ruby was not the type to show respect very liberally. “I could barely move, let alone try to spar!” Ruby continued, unaware of Oz’s amusement. Her dramatic retelling turned even more eccentric with the addition of flailing her arms about. “I have never been so humiliated in my life! I had my ass handed to me by one of the most uncoordinated students in that class- _ARGH!_ ” Ruby’s arm motions, in all of its theatrics, had made her tumble off of the sofa.

Ozpin, unable to contain it after such a boisterous display, howled with laughter. His guffaws increased when Ruby sat up, rubbing her head and began giggling with him. Ruby clutched her stomach as her face turned red, only laughing harder at the fact that they were _still_ laughing at something so silly.

It took a minute or so before their laughter died down, while Ruby was still snickering a little bit, Oz took a deep breath and cut off his little outburst.

“Really, Ruby, you are too much.” Oz said with another small chuckle.

Ruby let out another giggle, wiping tears from her eyes, then stood up and bowed. “Thank you, I try.” Ruby paused, suddenly feeling a lot better about the day than she had before. She was actually somewhat looking forward to sparring with Ozpin later, hoping that it would be as fun as that just was. “I’m going to go get changed. Where do you want me to wait for you?”

“In Glynda’s classroom is fine.” Oz replied, his focus turning back to the papers in front of him once Ruby had left.

 

***

 

Five minutes after Ruby arrived in Glynda’s abandoned classroom, Ozpin showed up as well. He had changed as well, into a pair of loose green pants and a white tank top covered by a thick coat, which he shed upon arriving inside the heated classroom. Ruby wore something similar, though she was wearing red work-out shorts and a black tank top.

The day before Oz had informed Ruby of her need for hand-to-hand combat training, and she assumed when he mentioned sparring that he meant in that form rather than with their weapons, though she did still bring Crescent Rose just in case. When Oz had shown up, Ruby was in the process of wrapping her knuckles with tape. Ozpin walked up beside her and did the same.

“I’ll go easy on you this time since you’re an old man and all.” Ruby said haughtily, obviously just joking. She tore off the tape and set it down, moving to the center of the little arena.

“Ohoho,” Ozpin chuckled. “Is that it? I’m quivering in fear, Miss Rose.” Oz was smirking as he joined her, raising his fists. Ruby’s mind flashed back to the first time they fought, the night she had come into his room to assassinate him. While it had been mere weeks ago, it felt like ages. Gazing at the white-haired male now, she was surprised it hadn’t been as long as it felt.

In Ruby’s distraction, Ozpin swiped a foot underneath her and sent her down to the ground. “Ruby, you really need to work on paying attention. That’s number one on the battlefield. If you had gone off and ignored your surroundings in a real fight like this, you’d be dead right now.”

“Right, sorry,” Ruby rubbed the back of her neck as she laughed in embarrassment.

Oz raised his fists again and Ruby did the same, attempting to mimic his stance. Oz sighed and walked over, lowering her arms a little bit as they were too close to her head, and pushing her legs a little closer together. “Your stance is too wide, for someone of your stature it would be best to keep your limbs closer to your body. With your knowledge of sparring, you’d be better off going in on the defensive, unless you see an opening. Sound good?” Ruby nodded, and Ozpin moved back to his side of the arena.

Ruby stayed in the stance Ozpin had moved her to, and they slowly circled each other, Ruby staying on the defense as Oz had instructed. Oz struck out with a kick, and Ruby narrowly dodged it. With her movement, she was already off balance when Oz sent another kick her way and she was unable to dodge it and was sent down onto her ass. Ruby groaned and stood up, rubbing her behind.

They set up again, and this time Ozpin sent a punch and Ruby found the opening Ozpin mentioned. She ducked under his fist and threw a punch of her own, at the center of his chest. She hissed and jumped back, holding her knuckles in her hand and bouncing around in pain. “Owww, owie, ow, ow!” She yelped. “Why is your chest so hard?!”

Ozpin chuckled at her reaction. “Well, _typically_ bone can be pretty tough…” He said sarcastically.

“Gah, you’re impossible!” Ruby shouted disdainfully.

“Oh, this is only the beginning, Miss Rose.” Oz stated, smirking at her.

 

***

 

After Ozpin had retired to his room, Ruby snuck out of hers to the kitchen. She was just planning on swiping some snacks because he had her on a strict diet that completely cut out any food after dinner. As she made her way to the snack cupboard, she noticed a little white object lying on the counter. Curious, she picked it up and found it to be a scroll. _Ozpin’s_ scroll. For him to leave it out like this was surprising to Ruby and she realized this was her chance to talk to Roman.

Ruby quickly opened it and typed in Torchwick’s number and began writing a message expressing how she missed him, and a small status report for the mission. A mission which she had all but completely forgotten about prior to talking to him. Just as she was going to hit _send_ , the light for the kitchen flicked on.

She jumped and nearly dropped the device as she whipped around to find Ozpin staring at her, his lips pressed firmly together in anger and his eyes showing the disappointment he felt. At his side, his hand twitched a little bit.

“O-Ozpin!” Ruby stammered, her words then barely forming any kind of legible sentence. “I-I w-was… Erm, j-just-” Ozpin silently held his hand out, and Ruby sighed before placing the scroll in his hand.

Oz’s eyes scanned the message she had almost sent, and his face seemed to just look even angrier. “So you still think you can just play around without punishment?” He asked and his eyes locked with hers. Behind the copper surface of his irises lied something dark, which made Ruby shiver. It was the same sort of darkness which lied beneath them that morning when he had given her that “reward”, though much more frightening now with the threat of punishment looming over her head. He huffed, his stance going rigid. “Guess I’ll just have to teach you what happens when you disobey me.”

Ozpin set the scroll back down on the counter and grabbed Ruby by her hair, dragging her to the living room. He sat down in one of the chairs, pulling Ruby down so she was laying on her stomach over his lap.

Oz roughly pulled down her red, Grimm-themed pajama shorts, letting them fall to her ankles. Then, he tugged down her red and black lacy panties so they were just passed the curve of her ass.  

His hand came down on her ass like a paddle, as his hands were big enough to cover her both of her butt cheeks and his slaps hurt like a wooden paddle. With each spank, Ruby let out a small yelp and her fingers clenched at his pant leg.

Her behind stung and was slowly developing a delectable red blush that made Oz’s hand twitch as he kept going. After about six or seven spanks, Oz paused for a second as his mind sunk into a state it hadn’t for a very long while. His hand lightly massaged Ruby’s reddened butt, and she sighed softly.

Oz’s next slap was somewhat softer, making Ruby mewl. He rubbed her behind before spanking her again. Ruby bit her bottom lip as her toes curled. Oz kept going with that spank/rub pattern, which made Ruby’s core start to leak with approval. A new kind of pleasure coursed through her veins, which she had never experienced with Roman before. Her soft moans and gasps were only making Oz grow more fixated and he knew he needed to stop before he did something he’d regret.

For a moment he stopped spanking her all together and was just massaging her butt reddened cheek. Oz let his free hand part her legs and he teased the pearl of her sex with his thumb, relishing in the sound of her little gasp and sigh.

Ozpin’s eyes widened a bit as he realized what he was doing, and he retracted his hand. He quickly pulled her panties and shorts back up and helped her stand up. Once he was sure she was steady on her feet, he fled back to his room.

Ruby stared at his retreating form in disbelief. She stood in the middle of the living room, dumbfounded and frustrated as hell. She groaned to herself and stormed off, back to her own room, slamming the door shut behind her.

She sat down on the edge of her bed, biting her lip as her core continued to throb. She was unbelievably pissed at Oz for winding her up and then just leaving. If that was his way of punishing her, then he definitely succeeded!

Thinking over it, and going over the entire scene in her head, Ruby realized that maybe by the end he wasn’t trying to punish her anymore. That, instead, he possibly thought that she didn’t want it. Well, Ruby decided she was going to show him just how much she needed him at that moment. She slipped out of her shorts so she was left in just her panties and shirt, figuring that it would be best to show her intentions clearly.

Ruby trotted out of her room and down the hall to Oz’s room. Her confidence faltering for a moment as she hesitated to knock on the door, but threw her worries to the wind and she slowly opened the door instead. While she was expecting Ozpin to be laying in bed, she found him sitting up with his legs over the edge of the mattress, his back turned towards her. He seemed to be too focused on something to have noticed her intrusion. Ruby lightly stepped around the bed, careful not to make any sound. She was still a few steps behind him so he couldn’t see her, but she could see what he was doing.

Ruby bit her lip once she saw what he was so fixated on, and pushed her legs together as her sex throbbed again. Ozpin’s hand was pumping his thick erect cock, moving rapidly as if he were desperate for release, or at least very close. In the pale moonlight, Ruby watched as Oz’s hand started to lose its rhythm, his stroke long and fast as his breathing grew deeper. Ozpin’s eyes were closed tightly as his lips parted and he let out a deep growl-like moan. His hand tightened on his member as Ruby’s name tumbled from his lips and his hand sped up. A split-second later, his milky white seed shot out, covering his hand and a little bit of his upper thighs.

Once he was done, he let out a small sigh and opened his eyes. Oz turned his head and locked eyes with Ruby, his copper ones widening. His cheeks flushed slightly showing his embarrassment, and then shifted to anger once again. He stood, disregarding the mess on himself, and pulled his pants back on.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, his eyes never leaving her face.

“I-.” Ruby bit her lip and blushed scarlet, her hands ended up tucked behind her back as she pressed her legs together again. Her insides were throbbing watching him was almost as arousing as the spanking had been. She took a deep breath and tried not to focus on what she had just seen, it didn’t help her clear her mind at all.

Oz cocked his head to the side, the posture she’d taken was positively submissive. He licked his lips as he took in the details of her, skin flushed, legs pressed tight together, he’d put money on those little black panties already been nice and damp. Oz found himself taking a step closer to her, his hand reaching out to gently grab her chin and move her head so she’d look him in the eye. “Did you come here for more attention, pet?” He asked slyly a small smirk growing on his lips. Ruby didn’t hesitate before nodding, confirming his suspicions. She bit her lip and he swiped his thumb across it, admiring the fullness of it and chuckled. “How cute.” He pushed his thumb past her lips, mostly just to see what she would do. Her mouth was warm and damp around his thumb, with just the small whisper of her teeth grazing the underside. When she teasingly sucked on it, his dick twitched in his pants.

Oz had to take a deep breath and pull his thumb from her mouth. “As much as I’d love to jump on you right now, I have to ask you a couple questions.” He said, his voice at least an octave deeper, and much much sexier in Ruby’s opinion. Ruby nodded again as he asked. “What are your experiences with sex?”

Ruby thought it over. “Um, I’ve never had it. I’ve messed around a little… Oral, handjobs…”

“Do you know what you like?” He asked.

It took longer for Ruby to think of an answer. “Not really… I liked it when you spanked me…”

Oz smirked a little bit at that and continued. “Would you be okay with me pushing your limits?”

“Uh, I don’t really know what my limits are…” she replied with a tiny, embarrassed smile.

“Guess we’ll just have to find them, then.” He chuckled, tracing his thumb over her jaw. “But before that, I want you to have a safeword for when you do reach your limit. For now, we can just use my old one, which is Beowolf. If you feel like you need me to stop, just say it and I will immediately. Okay?”

Ruby nodded once again.

Oz sat down on the bed, and in his deeper voice ordered her to strip. Ruby hesitated for only a moment before slowly pulling her black tank top over her head and letting it fall to the ground by her feet. Then, she pushed her panties down and stepped out of them. She was nervous to suddenly be standing so bare in front of him, with the cool air caressing her soft skin and making her pert nipples stand at attention.

“Have you ever heard of presenting, pet?” Ozpin asked, his voice deep once again like he had hit a switch and shifted back into a more commanding persona. Ruby shook her head, and bit her lip as he stood up. “Arms up behind your head, wrists crossed, shoulders down.” He moved behind her and Ruby shivered not at all from cold, but she did as she was told. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, there was something new and strange about this. “Legs shoulder width apart.”

Ruby did as ordered and shivered again, now she felt exposed the cool air of the room licking at her wet folds. She bit back a moan when Oz trailed a finger down her spine. “The more moderate version of this is simply called ‘Standing’ the only with your hands behind your back.” He slid his hand down to her back to grip her hip, testing the feel of her. “It’s typically used in a more public situation.”

The silver eyed woman swallowed and asked. “People do this in public?” His hand was rough as he touched her, tracing over dimples and curves.

“Subtly, some dominates use it as a way to . . . command their submissive. For example, another command is Accompany, which is most often to walk slightly behind your dominate on his dominant side. Which would be my right in case you’re wondering. You would be expected to be close enough to hear anything your dominate says.” He trailed a finger down her left butt cheek. “Present is a good middle ground, taking this one further is called ‘Inspection’ in which you would put your feet as wide apart as you can while still maintaining your balance.” He withdrew his hand from her body and leaned down to speak into her ear. “Do it.”

Ruby whimpered as his breath caressed her ear, she shifted her weight back and forth spreading her legs. Now there was nothing to protect her from, well anything.

“Lovely pet.” He purred and smiled when she shivered at her little nickname. “Another thing you need to learn is how to address a dominant. This varies from dominant to dominant, for example, if you wish to play like this. I will expect you to call me Sir. Others may prefer Master or Mister and their last name. Addressing a dominant as such shows your respect for him and a way a dominant expresses his dominance over a submissive. I will expect a please when you want something and a thank you when you get it. To add to that if you wish ‘if it pleases you’ or ‘only if it pleases you’. Make no mistake we will not always do things you enjoy. These phrases are meant to indicate you are willing to do what your dominant wants. Even if it is something you do not think you will enjoy.” He walked around her so she could see him, he had an arm tucked behind his back and was standing perfectly straight. “Are we clear?”

The young woman took several deep breaths fileing the information away. Her heart was hammering in her chest, this was so VERY different then Roman. This wasn’t a push for touches or a demand, he was offering her this and giving her a way out. She was growing very excited to see what he would do next, this was different than what she had read and she was starting to enjoy it. She took a deep breath and forced the words out, it was a bit embarrassing the first time. “Yes, Sir.”

Ozpin’s smile made the response all the more worth it, Ruby couldn’t help but preen under its approval. He stepped up and ran the back of a finger down her chest, through the valley of her breasts, all the way down to her sex, then turned it to tease a little circle over her pearl. “Excellent, Pet.” He purred and withdrew his finger. Ruby’s bottom lip jutted out in a small pout, prompting Oz chuckle lowly. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your pleasure soon enough. You said you enjoyed the spanking I gave you earlier, yes?”

This time, it was easier for Ruby to say the phrase Oz liked so much. “Yes, Sir…”

“Then we can start with that.” He said in an affirmative tone.

Oz picked Ruby up like she weighed next to nothing and sat down on the bed, laying her on his lap. His hand slowly rubbed a circle on her butt cheek, before he lifted it and delivered a hard slap. Ruby let out a high keen, the spot he hit already blooming into a red spot. He repeated this motion on her other cheek, making the small redhead cry out again. By now, her sex was already leaking, and she pressed her legs together to quell the throbbing. Ozpin moved the hand the was holding her in place to spread her legs, and gave her overly sensitive bud a feather light touch. Ruby inhaled sharply, just about praying for him to touch her a little harder.

Ozpin gave her another spank while she was distracted, making the impact that much more jarring. As the tingling on Ruby’s butt cheek subsided, Oz pushed a finger into her dripping heat. Ruby moaned softly as he pressed against her front wall, and started pumping the digit in and out of her, angling his finger to hit Ruby’s spot every time. When Oz’s hand fell upon her bum again, the mix of pleasure and pain made Ruby’s vision blur as the pressure built up inside her released.

It took a couple moments for Ruby to be able to refocus her eyes, and when she did she turned her head to look up at Oz with a small, slightly sleepy smile.

Oz picked Ruby up by her waist and laid her down on her back on top of the covers. His hands moved down to hold her hips, and he rubbed small circles in her skin with his thumbs. “Good girl, you took that very well. Do you think you could take more?” He asked, his voice much softer than it was before.

Ruby nodded slowly, “Yes, please…” Her mind was running rampant with ideas of all of the things Oz could do to her, every one of them more delicious than the last. And most of them involving more energy than she had to give.

“Good pet.” His voice returned to that deep baritone Ruby would forever associate with this night. Ruby flourished at the compliment, loving the nickname almost as much as she was loving Oz’s attention. He gave Ruby a quick peck on the cheek before standing back up and stripping out of his green pajama pants and settling on the bed beside her. He sat up on his knees and moved her further up on the bed so her head was resting on a pillow, and he joined her.

They both laid on their sides, sharing a soft look before Oz’s hand moved to rest on her waist and slowly trailed down to her hip, with Oz’s eyes following his hand to take in every curve of Ruby’s body in the moonlit night. Ruby found herself doing the same, but her gaze fell into a more admiring state as she gazed at his taut muscles. She already knew his upper half was fit, since he never wore a shirt in the morning. She also already knew his lower half was… well endowed, but it felt much more overwhelming to actually be seeing it all together. This was Ozpin, Professor, Headmaster, _Sir,_ Ozpin completely naked and touchable.

Ruby gently reached out and prodded his right pectoral, unsurprised to find it sturdy and hard. She let her hand wander across his chest and down to his abdomen and a little bit further to his still half-hard manhood.

While Ruby appreciated Oz’s _assets_ , Ozpin had gently spread Ruby’s legs apart so he could lightly tease Ruby’s pearl. Rubbing in small circles, he made sure she was still well lubricated before slipping his index finger past her slick folds. He probed a bit deeper than he had previously, as he very gently pressed on her, still very much intact, hymen. He pushed a second digit inside of her, using both to stretch her a little by little.

Ruby took Oz into her much smaller hand, and slowly started to stroke his length. It took a moment from her soft touches for him to become erect once again. He let out a soft sigh at the feeling, loving how soft her hand was but still wishing she’d stroke faster.

Ozpin soon decided Ruby was stretched enough, and that he had been teased by her too-light touches enough. He stood up and flipped her over, then pulled her closer to the end of the bed. Ruby stared up into his eyes, her pupils dilated so much the black almost completely replaced the silver in her eyes, and Oz was sure his eyes looked much the same as her’s. As much as he wanted to just ram into her then and fuck her into the mattress, he knew with her past experiences he needed to stop and ask first. “Do you still want to go through with this?”

Ruby nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, please, Sir.” She said, her voice somewhat firm. Her use of ‘Sir’, with the addition of the wanton look she was giving him went straight to his member and made it twitch. He leaned over her and rested a little bit of his weight on her by letting his hands drift down and grip her hips. Oz lined himself up between her open legs, his gaze never breaking away from her’s until she turned her head in embarrassment.

“Look at me,” he ordered, his voice in that ever-present baritone.

Ruby moved her head back to slowly lock eyes again, and let out a high moan as Oz started to push into her. She clamped down on him like a vice, and Oz had to tease her clit with the pad of his thumb to get her to let up enough for him to go deeper. The pace he had to go for her sake was agonizingly slow, but he didn’t want her first time to be painful.

It took a couple minutes of slow and shallow thrusts before Ruby thread her fingers in Oz’s white locks and tugged on his hair, and in a soft voice she asked him to move faster. He did so eagerly, pumping his cock into her wet heat with gusto. The way she clenched around him, and tugged on his hair were all driving him insane. Ruby felt herself getting more and more worked up as well, heat coursing through her body and each nerve ending was buzzing excitedly.

With one last perfectly angled thrust, Ruby felt her orgasm rush through her. Her body clenched up and shook like a leaf in a strong wind when it passed, since Oz’s thrusts never ceased hitting that spot inside her, nor did he stop teasing her overstimulated clit. As Ruby tightened around him with her own pleasure, he felt himself getting closer and pulled out just in time to release on her abdomen, her white skin being coated in his even whiter seed.

Oz panted and gave himself a moment to rest and catch his breath before leaving to grab a damp washcloth. He returned and gently cleaned Ruby’s well-spent body as she looked up at him with a sleep-weighted gaze. Oz wanted so badly to take her again, and again but held those urges at bay. Knowing it to be Ruby’s first time, he knew she was tired and needed her rest for she would be sore in the morning.

Once Ozpin was done cleaning Ruby off and finished with himself, he threw the dirty cloth in a hamper and moved Ruby further up on the bed so her head was resting on a pillow. Then, he covered her with the duvet and crawled in after her. He angled his body around her’s in a spooning motion and joined her in sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big ole thank-you to Ardianna for helping me with the explicit bits of this chapter, and explaining the BDSM things! :D Sorry for the inactivity, next chapter should come sooner.
> 
> Edit: I added a couple paragraphs at the beginning to emphasize that month transition. Sorry about that ^^ And thanks to WorldsWanderer for pointing it out to me and being patient in my fixing of this mistake!
> 
> Edit 2: Fixed a sentence from the bit I added in the last edit. Thanks again, WorldsWanderer, you're a life saver!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby confesses and gets a reward.

Sunlight streamed through the thin curtains hanging in front of Oz’s windows, rousing Ruby from a peaceful slumber. Ruby blinked slowly and looked around the room in confusion, her sleepy mind taking a moment to remember  _ why  _ she was in Ozpin’s room. When she did recall the previous night’s events, her face heated up. Only then did her brain let her feel how sore she really was. Her somewhat bruised bum was still hurting, and her core throbbed in pain. Ruby wasn’t sure if she’d be able to get up anytime soon, let alone walk or  _ train _ . 

Ruby noted the heavy arm on her midsection, as well as the thick legs tangled between her own and a certain headmaster’s thigh pressed against her heat. Ruby looked up, her eyes locking with Ozpin’s. “H-Hey…” Ruby stammered, her face heating up. 

“Good morning, Ruby.” Oz replied, his eyes showing his amusement at watching her take in what all had happened the night before. “Sleep well? I imagine you must have been exhausted.” 

The silver-eyed girl didn’t reply, her eyes never leaving his. She was taking in the sight of his sleep-tousled hair, sleepy copper eyes, and the light stubble peppering his jaw. Something about him made her heart speed up in a way the not even Roman could. Thinking about that, she remembered Roman’s plans and why she was there in the first place. Somewhere in her heart, Ruby still loved that mobster. But… As she gazed into Ozpin’s eyes she realized that maybe Roman wasn’t good for her. Maybe she was meant to be here, with Ozpin. Ruby didn’t want anything to happen to him, if something did she wasn’t sure what she would do...

Ever the crybaby, Ruby’s eyes filled with tears at that thought. Finally, she spoke up, “O-Ozpin…” 

Oz’s eyes widened a little bit, fearing that she regretted last night, or that she was starting to have another panic attack. “What is it, Ruby? Is something wrong?” Oz asked quickly, his face immediately dropping its mask and showing her how concerned he felt. 

“I’m sorry, I should have told you this before… It’s about the Vytal festival, Cinder is planning on planting a virus in the system to change the fighters and make something awful happen! Flood the town with Grimm, and release some sort of dragon!” Ruby confessed, the tears finally making their way down her pale cheeks. 

Ozpin sat up, nodding. He knew who Cinder was, but he didn’t know Ruby had such close ties to be able to tell him something so important. Oz quickly threw on some clothes, a pair of dark grey trousers, a green button-down, a black vest which he left unbuttoned and his dark green blazer. He hastily pinned his cross brooch onto his shirt and pushed his glasses onto his face. He walked back over to Ruby, who was now sitting up with the light green sheets just barely covering her sex and looking at him worriedly. Grabbing the redhead’s dainty hands and holding them in his much larger ones, he looked into her wide eyes. “Thank you for telling me. I know it must have been hard, but you might have just saved hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives.” One of Oz’s hands dropped hers in favor of cupping her cheek and brushing a tear away with his thumb before he pecked her cheek and turned to walk out. 

All of this happened so fast, Ruby almost couldn’t comprehend the fact that she had just sold out her former boss/lover. Ruby was now officially a traitor to the White Fang, specifically, Roman Torchwick and the ginger had no idea. While Ruby should have felt good, as Ozpin said her information might have just saved lives, she couldn’t help but feel even more weighed down. Ruby laid back down, pulling the covers up over her body and turning to face the window. “I’m sorry, Roman…” Ruby whispered, clenching the blankets in her hands. 

 

*** 

 

Ozpin left to inform the counsel of this new information, and they started with precautionary measures immediately. Upping security, discreetly as possible. Extra security was placed inside the tower since they assumed that would be the first place the group would target to place the bug. While doing that, they strengthened their antivirus software and such. 

After telling the council, Ozpin returned to his flat to wake Ruby and found her in the same place she had been when he left, though her position had changed a little bit. The redhead now cuddled with a pillow, one which he recognized as his own, with her face buried in it and snoozing peacefully. This sight brought a small smile to Oz’s face. Some caring being emerged from inside him, and he sat down on the edge of the bed, looking down at her. Oz lightly brushed some strands of hair out of her face, and ran his fingers down the side of her face. 

At Ozpin’s featherlight touches, Ruby’s eyes fluttered open and she leaned into his hand. Oz noticed fresh, though now dry, tear tracks on her cheeks and frowned. “Ruby, are you okay?” 

Ruby hesitated before nodding. “I feel a lot better now.” 

“I’m glad. Do you want some breakfast? We can go into town too if you want. I think you need a day off.” Ozpin said, giving her soft cheek one last caress before lifting his hand and standing back up. 

“I’m… not really in a breakfast mood, but I’d love to go into town. I need some new hair clips and some stuff for Crescent Rose…” Ruby replied, sitting up and letting the blankets fall to expose her upper body. At the sight of Ruby’s nearly perfect body, Ozpin felt a small smirk rising. He knew he was lucky to have gained affections from such a woman. Her full and perky breasts with light pink nipples, flat and slightly defined stomach, tiny waist and wide hips. Ruby got out of bed, unabashedly showing off her taut, reddened ass and smooth legs. Though she did wince somewhat at the action of standing up. She was still very much sore. Ruby bent over to grab one of Oz’s discarded button-down shirts to cover up her goosebump-ridden body. The light green sleeves fell past her hands, and the bottom covered down to her mid-thigh. 

Ruby, unaware of Oz’s eyes mentally undressing her, began to make her way out of the bedroom, Oz’s hand reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to him. Ruby giggled and let her hands rest on his shoulders. “Like what’cha see?” Ruby teased, her hand falling to unbutton the top couple buttons of Oz’s shirt. 

Ozpin chuckled in return, his hand pushing on the small of her back, so she was pressed firmly against him. His other hand firmly held her chin between his thumb and index finger. “Maybe.” Oz teased back, then leaned his head down to capture her lips in a kiss. Ruby pushed herself up on her toes to get a better angle, deepening the kiss by opening her mouth for him to slip his tongue in. 

Oz stepped backward until the back of his knees hit the bed, and he sat down with her on his lap. With Ruby straddling his legs, he moved his hand up from her chin to tangle in her short locks, as his other hand slipped below her to cup her ass. Ruby pulled away when Ozpin pushed his hips up to grind against her bare sex to let out a soft gasp in a mix of pleasure and pain. Her core was still somewhat swollen, and while the action felt good it also irritated the overused flesh of her lips and pearl. Her hands lightly pushed on his shoulders as her half-lidded eyes stared into his own. “As much as I’d love to go another couple rounds, I’m still sore and we have stuff to do…” Ruby said, her voice heavy with lust. 

Ozpin leaned back, supporting himself with his hands on the mattress. The headmaster sighed and nodded, pushing his bangs out of his face. “Yes, you’re right. I will try to keep my hands off of you, for now,  _ pet _ .” He stressed the word “pet”, a knowingly look overtaking his features when Ruby bit her lip. Her resolve seemed to be cracking with just one word, but she shook her head, giving him one last kiss on the cheek before she stood and trotted off to her room to shower and dress. Oz watched her retreating form, still smirking. He was very much smitten with this little nymph. 

 

***

 

Despite Ruby’s insistence that she, “Wasn’t in a breakfast mood.” Ozpin still coerced her into eating some fruit before they headed out into the city. The two of them left the campus to catch an airship down to Vale. They took their seats and Ruby had to sit forward a little bit so her sex wouldn’t be irritated by the pressure of sitting on it. While they sat inside the ship, Ruby thought over the last time she was in Vale. It had only been about a month ago, but it felt so long. She had been with Qrow back then, and she remembered her confrontation with Roman and that  _ girl _ . Ruby huffed. She desperately hoped they wouldn’t run into Torchwick again, she wasn’t sure she would be able to look him in the eye anymore. For two years, since she turned fifteen, Roman had been pushing her to go all the way with him and in only the span of one month she had given up her maidenhood to Ozpin, the man she was originally there to kill. 

Ruby was a little afraid that if he were to see her, he’d immediately know what she did. While stuck in her thoughts, she didn’t notice as her breathing quickened and a pressure began to build in her chest. Oz picked up on her symptoms and placed a hand on her shoulder. Ruby flinched and turned her head sharply, then took a deep breath. In her head, she started counting backward from one hundred as Ozpin told her to do the first time she had a panic attack around him. 

Around forty, Ruby’s breathing returned to normal and her heart stopped pounding as fiercely. By the time Ruby was done, she felt better and the airship was starting to slow as they got closer to Vale. Ozpin moved his hand down to Ruby’s waist on the opposite side, pulling her a little bit closer to him. Ruby wrapped her arm around his back as well so she could get in even closer, and rested her head on his side. The ship was so crowded, they were sure no one would notice. Plus, Ruby needed the comfort right now. “Are you okay?” Oz asked for, what felt like, the fifth time that day and Ruby nodded and nuzzled her face in his side. 

The airship landed and the doors opened to let the riders out. Ozpin and Ruby followed the others out of the ship and soon out of the station. Oz moved his arm up to rest on her shoulder on the side further from him, keeping a loose yet firm hold on Ruby as they traversed the busy streets of downtown Vale. 

“Where would you like to go first?” Ozpin asked, looking down at her.

“Hmm…” Ruby thought it over, her mind only thinking of her favorite shop. “There’s this one store where I usually get my clothes… Could we go there first?” 

“Of course.” Ozpin replied as he finally surrendered his grip on her shoulder in favor of just holding her hand. It gave Ruby a little bit more wiggle room and the ability to lead the way, and he simply liked holding her soft hand. Uncalloused, unlike those of his hunter/huntress peers. 

Ruby walked with an unnoticeable limp in the direction of the store she had mentioned. It was the same place she had gone before, with Qrow. The two of them walked silently, with Ruby merely a step ahead of Ozpin since she was leading the way, but the silence was not unwelcome like the one that overtook her and Qrow. It was comfortable, and neither wanted to break that illusion of normalcy. Just a female dragging her male to the city for some light shopping. If someone were to see them, that’s just what they would think.

Ozpin smiled at that image in his head, of Ruby dragging him around something like a mall. Though, in his mind, it looked more like he were her father. He figured it might just be his glasses, which made him looked older than he was and without another thought, he used his free hand to take off his spectacles and slip them in his pocket. Oz saw their reflection in the window of one of the shops they passed, and nodded at it.  _ Now,  _ they looked much more like a young couple out enjoying their Friday afternoon. 

Soon after that, they arrived at the shop Ruby wanted to go to so badly. Oz noted the name,  _ Crimson Clothing _ , in case he ever found himself in need of coming back for something. Ruby opened the door, making the bell jingle as she stepped inside. Already knowing where everything in the store was, she migrated towards the back where jewelry items were. Garnet and ruby stones set in some type of black metal, Ozpin guessed it was black titanium, but he could have been wrong. Really, it depended on the quality and durability the designer was going for. Among the jewelry were earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, brooches, rings, and other such things. There were also some armor-type accessories, though they only seemed to be for display purposes rather than actual functionality. 

Ruby looked over some of the different accessories, her heart set on a pair of rose hair clips she had seen during one of her trips here. Once she found them, her face fell in disappointment when she saw the price had been marked up. They had become too expensive for her budget, and instead she turned her sights to where the pendants and brooches were. She had to search for ten minutes before she found something that caught her eye. It was a silver rose brooch, the different petals not quite connecting and the top bit looking as if it were flaming. It was perfect for her own motif, though it didn’t quite match anything on her outfit. Thinking it over, she decided to get it anyway. Ruby asked the salesperson to pull it out for her, and got her wallet out in preparation.

Ozpin, noticing she was getting ready to pay for it, subtly pushed her hand away and pulled his own wallet out. When receiving a confused look from the silver eyed woman, he said, “Don’t worry about it. Your birthday is coming up, isn’t it? Just consider this as an early birthday present.” 

Ruby had a little moral battle inside her, but in the end still let him pay. Until now, she hadn’t realized how much a gentleman he could be. Much different than Roman, as the ginger-haired man would have just let Ruby pay. Or even  _ made  _ her pay, since it was for herself. Ruby gazed up at him, her face scanning his face and body language for any sign of it being some sort of trick, but his eyes seemed quite content as he handed her the bag. As they walked out, Ruby grabbed for his hand. She liked how rough his palms were, it reminded her that Oz and Roman were two different people, since Roman’s hands were very soft. The mobster always wore gloves to make sure his hands stayed baby soft. In Ruby’s eyes, it made him seem kind of feminine in a way. 

“Where to next?” Ruby asked and Oz thought it over. 

“How about some lunch while we’re out? I’m sure you’re sick of the cafeteria food by now.” Ozpin said and Ruby nodded slowly. “Anything in particular you’d like to eat?” Ruby shook her head. She liked most foods, though due to the sheer amount of it she ate with Roman, Mistral take-out was her favorite. Ruby didn’t mention this though, as take-out was very unhealthy as far as nutrition goes and she was sure Oz didn’t want her eating something like that anymore. 

Without any further input Oz started to lead them to a restaurant. As they walked, Oz let go of her hand and let it rest on her hip, only then noticing the very subtle limp in Ruby’s step. Ozpin smirked, almost instantly knowing what was making her walk in such a way, which then reminded him of what they were doing shortly before leaving earlier. Oz decided then would be a perfect time to continue their previous activities. He directed her to an dimm alley angled inward to shield them from the casual glance, a couple paces away from their destination, pushing her back against the stone of a building.

Ruby grinned, already knowing where this was going. Ozpin’s hands gripping her waist as he lifted her up. At this motion, Ruby wrapped her legs around his midsection and her arms around his neck. Oz leaned down halfway, and Ruby closed the distance to lock lips. While Oz held her up with one hand on her bottom, his other one reached up to grip her hair. With a small tug, Ruby gasped and Oz pushed his tongue inside her mouth. Their tongues had a small battle before Ruby let him take control, since she knew he would have gotten it anyway. Ignoring the bit of soreness in her core, she let her hips buck against his abdomen. Even with the layers of fabric separating them, the feeling made her heat throb in pleasure. 

Oz broke away and tugged at her hair a little harder, pulling her head back and giving himself better access to her unmarked neck. His lips attached to the bit of her neck where her pulse hammered beneath her skin. He sucked on the pale skin there for a good minute while Ruby let out soft sighs, while she wanted to go much louder she didn’t want to alert everyone on the outer street of what was going on. Ozpin nipped at the newly formed love bite, making Ruby inhale sharply. 

Ruby’s back arched forward, her head hitting the bricks hard enough to make herself a little dizzy. Her one hand had to move from holding onto Ozpin’s shoulder to clamp down on her mouth to keep herself from making any noises louder than a gasp while the other gripped Oz’s white hair. Ozpin pushed Ruby up a little bit so he could start on her shoulder next. He pushed her shirt off her shoulder to give him some room and restarted his motions on her clavicle. He bit down a little bit harder, not hard enough to break the skin but enough to leave a mark. Ruby’s eyes rolled back and she felt herself grind against him again. After a nice mark was left behind on her skin, Ozpin tore himself away to chuckle at her lewd expression. “My, how you melt at my touch is just just lovely, pet. Before I go any further, you are on birth control, correct?” He asked, so that they wouldn’t do this and then regret it later..He forgot to the night before and didn’t want to twice in a row. When she nodded, he also asked, “And you do want to go further?” He asked, making sure to get her expressed consent before going on. While her expression and body language said she did, he wouldn’t continue until she told him to. 

Ruby swallowed thickly. “Yes, p-please…” Ozpin looked at her expectantly. “...Sir.” Oz’s face shifted back to a grin. 

“Good girl.” He said and set her down only for a moment to pull down her leggings and panties enough so both were hanging off of her one leg. Then he pulled down his own pants and briefs to withdraw his member. He gave it a couple quick strokes, though he was already hard enough, before picking Ruby up again and propping her against the wall with one hand and angling himself in front of her entrance with his other. 

Ruby harshly bit her lip as he slowly pushed inside her, as it hurt like she was being stretched all over again and she didn’t want to make too loud of a noise. It was weird and a little scary to be doing such a thing in public, broad daylight nonetheless! Ruby’s heart sped up, she felt so  _ naughty _ , she wasn’t sure what she would do if they were to be caught. Oz held her up with both hands on her waist and quickened his pace just enough for her to want more. Ruby’s back arched and she leaned forward, both of her arms wrapped around Oz’s neck as she buried her face in his clavicle. Ruby sunk her teeth into his skin, making Oz hiss in pain and pleasure. Normally he’d stop and punish her for doing something like that without permission, but it felt so good he’d let it pass just this time. Oz changed his angle, a couple times before Ruby cried out softly against his skin. His pace was still a little slow for her tastes and she mumbled out a small, “Faster, sir…” 

“What’s the magic word, pet?” Ozpin grunted with a smirk. 

“...Please…” Ruby whimpered.

“A little louder.” Oz teased, his movements slowing just for that. 

“Ah, please! Please fuck me faster, sir!” Ruby cried out, her eyes closing tightly in shame at begging like this. 

“Good, pet.” Oz finally obliged and pounded into her harder, making Ruby nearly cry out again. 

Oz felt a bit of sweat beading at his temple at the strain of both holding her up and thrusting into her. It had been while since he had a partner who wanted these things, and he was a little out of practice. Still, it was worth it as he felt Ruby sex grip his dick like a vice as she neared her first climax. 

Ruby couldn’t feel the cold on her bare legs anymore as all feeling was centered in her core, she felt her insides throbbing from Oz hitting her pleasure spot over and over again. Ozpin could feel her getting closer and placed his one hand on her throat, just hard enough to constrict her air flow. Ruby’s eyes widened as he did it, and she wasn’t sure what to do. She was already so close though that in only another short thrusts, her toes curled and the pressure inside her flooded out with a high, nearly silent keen. Ozpin rode her orgasm out, his pace never faltering and his grip on her throat not letting up. Ruby’s heat twitched as he did so, the stimulation almost becoming too much as her vision becoming somewhat clouded with black spots hovering just at the corner of her sight. As her eyes went glassy, Oz loosened his hold on her throat enough for her to get a few quick breaths in before tightening again.

Ozpin’s nonstop blitz on her most sensitive spots pushed Ruby over the edge again only minutes later, barely giving her a chance to catch her breath from the last one. Her legs were still twitching erratically, and her chest heaved as she attempted to suck in as much air as possible. Just before Ruby’s vision blackened completely, she heard Ozpin grunt, once, twice, before he throbbed inside her and she felt his seed spill inside of her. Then, he took his hand off of her throat and slowly let her down while still somewhat holding her upright. 

Oz let Ruby lean against the wall while he helped fix her pants. Oz hadn’t planned a quick fuck during their outing, so he didn’t have anything on him to clean up the mess inside her so he did the next best thing. He pulled her panties up, to make sure his seed would stay inside of her, then pulled her leggings back up afterwards. He took a moment to make sure a wet spot wouldn’t form on her pants before he spoke to praise her. 

“You did wonderfully today, pet. I wasn’t sure how you would take breath control play, but you did exceptionally well. I’m proud of you. What did you think of it?” Oz asked, referring to the breath play. He had sprung it upon her without discussion first which was another thing he would normally never do, but he did want to see what her initial reaction would be. 

Ruby’s ego inflated at his praise, and she thought over his question. “Thank you… It was a little bit scary at first, but I think I liked it. I don’t think I’d mind doing it again, sir.” She said, smiling brightly up at him.

“Good, I’m glad. Now, let’s head home. You need rest after that. I can just make us lunch while you nap, okay?” Oz said, and Ruby nodded. 

Ruby’s legs were shaking a little bit and Ozpin had to keep his arm around her waist to support her. Oz looked to make sure no one was near the alley before they emerged, since if anyone saw their disheveled appearances as they came out from a darkened alleyway, they’d know immediately what they were doing. Oz turned to walk away from the restaurant and found himself nearly colliding with someone else. 

The other person stepped back before any contact was made, but when Ruby made eye contact with them she flinched. In front of Ozpin and Ruby stood Roman Torchwick, who was glaring daggers at the two of them. Ruby took in his appearance, noting that he looked no different than the last time she saw him. The other girl, Neo, was with him again. The bi-colored girl gave Ruby a haughty look. “So, you’re gone for little over a month and you’ve already found someone to replace me.” Roman stated in a matter-of-fact voice, an underlying tone weighing his words in a mix of anger and indignation. 

“Well, I-” Ruby tried to stammer out a reply, but Ozpin quickly stepped in as he noticed her falter. 

“And so what if she has?” Oz interjected, letting go of Ruby’s hand to cross his arms. His postured went rigid, and his raised his chin so that he looked down on the ginger. This was easy to do as Ozpin towered over Roman by a good couple of inches. 

Ozpin’s show of power only seemed to rattle Roman’s cage, making him angrier. “So that’s it, Red? You just lead me on for years and as soon I let you go for a little bit, you turn and give yourself to  _ him _ ?” Roman shouted, attracting the attention of passerby while Neo stepped back, obediently as she had learned to do. Ruby shrunk under his words, guilt coating her features. She wanted to disagree with him, but she  _ was  _ standing in front of him with another man’s semen still inside of her sex. Then a switch flipped inside the formerly rampaging mobster, and his eyes turned sad. “What happened to our plan, Ruby?” Roman asked, actually using her name for once. “We were going to finish helping Cinder and then run away to Mistral together… Do you want that anymore? I thought you  _ loved  _ me.” 

Ruby’s lip wobbled with the stress of trying not to cry in front of him. Of course she remembered their plan, he brought it up one time when they were both drunk after fooling around a little bit. Ruby was only sixteen at the time, she was still naive and trusting of him. She still thought he wanted her. She still loved him. 

Ozpin cut off her chain of thought by speaking up in her defense. “Ruby, don’t listen to him. He’s trying to manipulate you again.” Oz said firmly. “You didn’t and still don’t, have to do anything with him that you don’t want to. It’s your body, not his. You are not his property.” Oz stressed the last sentence, knowing that that was a concept he really needed to drive into her head. 

“Of course you’re not my property.” Roman replied, making Ruby’s head snap towards him. “You’re your own person, I just want what’s best for you. Don’t you remember all of our happy times together?” Ruby blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend his words. Why was he acting like this all of a sudden? It seemed genuine to her, or was that just her abused mind trying to cling onto him some more? 

“Enough, Torchwick.” Ozpin said through clenched teeth. “You’re only confusing her. If you really wanted what’s best for her, you wouldn’t force her to stay with you.” 

Roman gave Ozpin a long look, then Ruby, all while staying silent. He decided that this was a battle he wouldn’t be able to win, not this time while Ozpin was here. “Fine, then. Just know this isn’t over. It’s not over until Ruby comes back to me.” 

“Actually, Torchwick, you won’t be seeing much of Ruby for a long, long time,” Ozpin said. “I’m placing you under arrest for sexual assault on a minor.”

Ozpin made a move towards Roman, presumably to arrest the mobster as he said, but this is when Neo stepped in front of her employer smirking in a way that would make one think she knew a secret they did not. When Ozpin reached out to grab Roman, he and Neo “shattered” like glass. Standing in their place was the empty sidewalk. Ozpin growled in the back of his throat, cursing himself for not realizing in the first place it had been an illusion.

Once he was finally gone, Ruby could have collapsed with relief, despite the threat of him returning hanging in the air. Luckily, Ozpin returned his hand to her side to hold her up and he started to walk again. Silently. This time, the silence that hung in the air was thick with unspoken words. Since the argument was over, the others that had stopped to watch continued on with their day. It was as if time had stopped for a fight, and it was only then starting up again. Nervously, Ruby looked up at Ozpin to see his jaw was still tense and his eyes were darkened in just-barely-kept-in fury. Ruby gulped and looked back down at the sidewalk. Ruby resolved that next time, she would stand up for herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the next chapter already almost done, would you guys like for me to upload as soon as I finish or wait until next week? :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tooth rotting-ly sweet fluff, and then some aura training gone wrong.

The journey home was of a tense nature. Ozpin and Ruby barely said two words from the city to the airship, airship to campus, and campus to flat. What devastated Ruby the most was Ozpin barely touched her the whole way back, no casual snuggling, hug, hand-holding, or even an “accidental” brush against her thigh. The two of them had only been intimate for a day, and Ruby was already hooked on his affection. Already, her mind was tricking her into thinking Oz was mad at her, even though she knew he might have been keeping his distance for her sake. Ruby  _ had  _ just been confronted by her abuser, and that was usually traumatizing to a point. Except, Ruby felt fine for the most part. A little shaken up, but it was nothing she wasn’t already used to. 

When Ozpin closed the door behind them and shed his jacket, Ruby turned to him, finally feeling her resolve break. “Okay, what’s the deal?” She squeaked, then coughed to try to cover it up. 

“What do you mean?” Oz asked, obviously playing dumb. He had to have known what was bothering her. Why was he doing this? 

“You haven’t touched me since back in the city, or even talked to me!” Ruby said, her voice unintentionally rising with each word. She didn’t mean to sound so needy but at this point, she couldn’t help it. Ruby had always been a “touchy-feely” person with Torchwick and when she lost it when she first moved in with Ozpin, she felt like a part of herself was missing. Now that she had it back, Ruby felt like she needed it more than ever. 

Ozpin kept eye contact with her, silently. “Ruby…” He said, his voice much softer than before. 

“Please…” Ruby broke away from Oz’s gaze and reached out, taking his hand into her’s and intertwining their fingers. “I’m sorry…” 

Oz sighed, lightly squeezing her hand. “Don’t apologize,” he said firmly. “You did nothing wrong. Just go take a shower, I’ll start on lunch.”

Ruby nodded. “Okay…” She started to walk away, but paused and turned to address him over her shoulder. “...Sir.” Then, she scampered off to the bathroom. 

Ozpin sighed and plopped down on the sofa, running a hand through his hair. He couldn’t believe he had fallen for that bi-colored girl’s illusion, usually, he was much more on top of things. More observant to minor changes. To have let that criminal slip away was a very damaging blow to his pride. Oz knew what had distracted him in the first place, though. He had prioritized Ruby over his actual job, to incarcerate criminals and kill Grimm. When he took in Ruby all those weeks ago, Oz never would have thought she could have become that important to him. She was just supposed to be a weapon for his side, he wasn’t supposed to fall for her.

During Oz’s silent reflection, Ruby slipped out of the bathroom fully dressed once again. Her hair was still somewhat damp as she patted it down with a lime green towel. Her mood had increased after her shower, as it usually did, and she noticed Ozpin had barely moved since she left. She knew already when he was in deep thought, it was very easy to slip through his defenses so she trotted up behind him with a sneaky grin stretched across her pink lips. Ruby placed her hands over his eyes. “Guess who!” She said, giggling. 

Oz couldn’t help but crack a tiny grin at her antics. He placed his hands on her’s. “Hmm, now it wouldn’t be a certain Ruby Rose, would it?” Oz said, then pulled her hands away. Ruby was standing on the tips of her toes to lean over him, her hair falling on his face and tickling his cheeks. 

“Correct!” Ruby chirped, giggling. She leaned a little further down and pecked at his lips. “There’s your prize!”

“Oh, I believe I deserve more than that measly kiss, don’t you think?” Ozpin said, Ruby’s good mood becoming infectious. 

“I don’t know, do you?” Ruby said slyly. 

“Come here, you,” Ozpin said, reaching up to grab at her waist and pull her, squirming and giggling, over the couch and his head and setting her down on his lap. He let his hands stay on her waist while he peppered her cheeks with kisses, then her forehead and neck. 

Ruby couldn’t stop laughing as she attempted to push his face away. “That tickles!” She squealed. Oz finally stopped and looked at her with a slight smile. 

“Alright, stay here I’ll make lunch,” Ozpin said, shifting Ruby off his lap so he could stand up. 

“Okay!” Ruby replied, and slouched back into the soft cushions of the couch. It took only a moment or two before she dozed off, the events of the day finally catching up to her and making her sleepy. Oz looked back at her sleeping form with a smile, surprised she had even stayed awake so long. He had expected her to have crashed on the airship back, or even on the way to the airship station. 

He got to work, boiling pasta and pulling out ingredients to make a sauce for it. 

An hour later, he finished up and dished out two plates of pasta with a salad, and placed them both on the counter. Then, he walked over to Ruby to wake her. He kneeled down so they were eye level and kissed her cheek, gently rousing her from her dreamless slumber. Ruby’s eyes fluttered open, and her joints were a little bit stiff from napping on the couch. 

“Lunch?” Ruby asked, her voice a little bit rough from a dry throat. Ozpin nodded stood back up to give her the room to sit up. Ruby rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned. Then she slumped over, still feeling very sleepy. Oz held a hand out for her and she took it, gripping on to pull herself up. Ruby took a moment to crack most of her bones, making Ozpin cringe.

“You know that isn’t good for your joints,” Oz said with a grimace. 

“Oh, bite me,” Ruby said smugly. 

Ozpin rolled his eyes and let himself crack a smile. Ruby was definitely something else entirely, so carefree in a way that he himself could never be. She was still so young, only seventeen almost eighteen. Ruby had her whole life ahead of her, what was she still doing here? So many of her years were wasted with Torchwick, was spending her time with Oz really any better? Just another older man to take up her time that could be spent doing whatever else she wanted. At that thought, Oz’s mood darkened. Though when he gazed into Ruby’s worry-free and bright silver eyes, he found he couldn’t care. If she  _ really  _ didn’t want to be there, she would have expressed that clearly instead of hanging on to him, and getting upset when he didn’t give her attention. 

Ruby bounced over and sat at the bar, and Ozpin took his place inside the kitchen, across from her. She sat down and immediately dug into her food and Oz did as well, smiling at her enthusiasm. Oz paused from eating for a minute to pour her a glass of milk, and she thanked him with a mouth full of pasta. He sighed in exasperation. “Please, don’t talk with food in your mouth. Haven’t you heard of table manners, Miss Rose?” Oz said, picking up calling her “Miss Rose” again, as he knew it irritated her. 

To counter this, Ruby stuffed more food in her mouth before answering. “Nope!” She said with as much of a shit-eating grin as she could manage with her cheeks stuffed with pasta. 

Ozpin rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I wonder if you were raised in a barn. Any more of that, and I’ll make you sleep outside, much like the dog you’re imitating right now.”

Ruby quickly chewed and swallowed her pasta, and pouted at him. “Hey, that’s just mean!” She whined.

“It’s fitting.” Oz countered. Ruby stared at him with a glint in her eye, and Ozpin stared back with an eyebrow raised. A silent war was being waged over lunch, and it was hard to say who would win. “ _ Woof. _ ” Ozpin mimicked, ending their staring contest by making Ruby burst into giggles. When she quieted down, Ozpin spoke again. “Now eat up, after lunch, we’ll do some aura training. Really, I should punish you for being such a slob, but I’ll let it go this time.”

“Okay!” Ruby said and continued shoveling food into her mouth, making Ozpin cringe and his hand twitch with the want to break out his paddle. He turned his eyes away from the wolf-turned-human in front of him and ate his food a more dignified pace. 

Ruby, of course, finished first and skipped off to her room to change into her usual outfit. When she was done, she clipped the silver rose pin Oz had bought for her onto her red belt. Ruby paused to check herself out in the mirror, smiling a little bit at her reflection. She noticed a large change in her physique, as she had thickened up a little bit. Her legs and butt were taut with muscle, and her stomach was flat and toned. Her arms had more muscle on them, making it easier for her to swing around Crescent Rose. She couldn’t do it with ease like Oz could when he demonstrated for her, but she was getting there. One training period with Oz didn’t leave her as sore as it used to, though having to train with him and then train in her regular classes did still make her sore. She was also finally starting to get good at killing the Grimm. Ruby still slipped up from time to time, or on off days she’d get too frustrated to kill anything. 

Oz had said, after one of their Grimm training days, that if she kept it up they’d go to the Emerald Forest and she’d be able to fight in a more realistic setting. After that, he said by next fall she might be able to be placed on a team if she wished, though Ruby wasn’t sure if she did want that. Ever the recluse, Ruby wasn’t much into socializing with those of the age group. She always found she fit in with adults more, naturally conversing and understanding the often dark topics discussed. 

Ruby’s detour into her thoughts gave Ozpin the time to finish his food and clean up both of their plates and call her name. “Ah, coming!” She called and straightened her cloak before bouncing out. She ran in front of him and stood straight, saluting him. “Agent 18-18 reporting for duty!” Ruby said in a purposely deeper, rigid voice before bursting into giggles. Oz shook his head at her and motioned to the door. 

“Let’s go, then,” Oz said, grabbing his coat and cane before advancing to the door. 

“Yes, sir!” Ruby said, momentarily forgetting the meaning associated with that term. She blushed when Oz turned to look at her, his copper eyes somewhat dark. Ruby laughed nervously. “Just… kidding?”

“Mm, that’s what I thought. Now come along, pet.” Oz said in retaliation. Ruby swallowed thickly, remembering their sexcapade in the alley earlier. She hadn’t the time to think about it until now, or it had slipped her mind. Oz turned, striding out and leaving Ruby to jog to catch up. 

“Umm…” Ruby hesitated to ask what she wanted to. She was a tiny bit afraid he’d think her weird for bringing it up, but at the same time, he was the one her told her what it was. “W-would you like for me to Accompany you?” 

Ozpin paused and turned to look at her. “If you wish. Do you remember what to do?” When Ruby nodded, he turned again and started walking with the praise of, “Good girl.”

Ruby quickly moved to his right side and walked a little bit behind him, with her hands behind her back and her gaze staying forward. This was something she would always have to do with Roman because he liked her always to be with him but never walking in front of him. So, it was something she was used to. Staying just close enough to hear any orders, but far enough to show she wasn’t really equal. That wasn’t the case this time, though. Ruby did this because she wanted to, she wanted Oz to be proud of her. While this whole Dom/Sub situation was so new to her, some of the concepts were things she still did with Roman only she didn’t get a bad taste in her mouth every time she followed an order. Ruby wondered if the difference was the fact that Ozpin praised her whenever she did good, while Roman wouldn’t do anything special since it was just expected of her to follow orders. 

They made their way to the forest and back to the grove Oz had previously shown her the last time they trained with aura. It had been awhile since then, since they mostly worked on building her physical strength rather than her spiritual strength. But since she was finally at a point where they could spend time on something else, he decided aura would be best. Plus, if he could get her to control her aura better when she unlocked her silver-eyed powers she’d already have a grasp on how to use it. 

“Sit down, legs crossed, hands clasped together in front of you,” Oz ordered, and Ruby immediately did so. Ozpin sat down with her. “Okay, relax your body but don’t slouch.” Ruby let out a breath and felt her muscles unclench. “Now, close your eyes and imagine your soul, whatever you think it may be. Slowly materialize it in your mind, growing more and more real as you do so.”

Ruby closed her eyes tightly, imagining a red flaming rose. In her mindscape, it started looking only like the rose Oz had bought her, but slowly it grew a green stem and silver thorns. The flaming petals flickered brightly, growing bigger as it got more and more real-looking. Without her own will trying to change it, the petals turned silver and started to fall from the stem. Somewhere, her consciousness picked up Oz’s voice sounding slightly panicked, “Ruby, calm down!” His voice sounded far away, and the petals kept falling despite his warning. 

As the last silver petal fell, the stem started to disintegrate and blow away like ashes. As the last particle blew away, Ruby jolted back with a stabbing pain in her head. Her silver eyes snapped open, and she was looking up at the darkening sky. They slowly focused on Ozpin’s face, to the side of her vision. His forehead was creased with worry, his eyebrows raised and slightly scrunched together. “Ruby?” He prodded. 

Ruby slowly sat up, her hand pressing down on her throbbing head. Her vision was a little blurry and still unfocused, and she felt a migraine forming. “What just happened?” Ruby asked in a small voice. 

“You went too fast, I think you unintentionally exhausted your own soul,” Oz informed her. He was mentally smacking his forehead. He should have known something like this would happen. With a soul as powerful as her’s, it can’t be contained by just one small object and he should have told her to imagine her soul as being huge so it wouldn’t flare up like that. 

“My head hurts…” Ruby sighed. Ozpin nodded and scooped her into his arms. He held her to his chest, with his hands holding her up by the bottom of her thighs. Ruby loosely wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on Oz’s shoulder. 

Oz made his way out of the forest, quickly making his way back to his flat. He made sure to avoid students and teacher, ducking behind a wall every time he sensed another presence. Above their heads, he heard the flap of wings grow closer until Qrow transformed near them. He kept up with Oz’s pace, only a step behind him on his right. “Oz, what happened?”

“I was working with Ruby on materializing her soul but she started out too fast. Exhausted her soul, knocked her out for an hour.” Ozpin explained quickly. 

“Oz!” Qrow said in a tone that indicated he was about to start scolding him. 

“Spare me.” Ozpin cut Qrow off before he could start. The raven-haired man rolled his eyes and pulled out his flask, taking a long gulp. 

“Be more careful next time,” Qrow said, a shortened version of his rant he had prepared. “She could have seriously hurt you and herself if that went any  _ more  _ wrong.”

“Yes, yes. I know. Now shoo, I’ve got to get her to bed.” Ozpin said, his tone clearly annoyed. 

Qrow rolled his eyes once again, and transformed and flew off to watch from a distance. 

Oz walked into the building, and up to his flat. He made his way to the back, opened his door with the jerk of his head and walked in to set Ruby down on his bed. Oz stripped Ruby down to her underwear and grabbed one of his t-shirts to slip on her. Then, he picked her up with his hands holding her arms and pulled the covers back with a tad bit of his magic, and set her down with her head on a pillow. Oz pulled the blankets back up and tucked her in. 

When he was sure she was safe, he undressed and got into bed with her. Oz protectively curled around her back, his arms wrapped around her and his legs tangled in hers. 

Since things had calmed down a bit now, he thought over what had happened. Ozpin had known almost immediately when Ruby’s soul was starting to exhaust, as it started flaring up physically. First, she started sweating. Then, beneath her eyelids, her silver eyes glowed brightly. And lastly, he knew it was getting particularly bad when the red in her hair started to change to a shining silver. That was when he started to shake her, though he was pretty sure she couldn’t feel it. From Ruby’s chest came a bright silver light, which flashed brightly before diminishing within the blink of an eye. Ruby had fallen backward and everything calmed. Her hair went back to just red and black, her eyes stopped glowing, and her skin dried somewhat. 

Ozpin knew after that, it would take a little bit for her soul to gather its bearings and she’d be able to wake back up. Oz knew all of this because it wasn’t the first time he’d seen it happen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun...!  
> Finally, updated on time!! Hoped you liked the chapter, thanks for reading! Comments always appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby fights with Ozpin, and gets some much needed time away from Beacon. Later, an important meeting.

By the time Ruby woke up the next morning, her splitting headache had subsided somewhat. She slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she gazed upon waking up being Oz’s copper ones, softly looking down at her. Ruby felt a small smile tug at her lips and she nuzzled closer to him to soak up his warmth. Ozpin hugged her a little tighter. Throughout the night, they had barely moved apart, merely rolling so they were curled in each other’s embrace rather than just spooning. Ruby’s hands rested on Oz’s bare chest, while Oz’s arms were wrapped around Ruby’s torso. Ruby had her head tucked beneath Oz’s chin, and her face pressed against his neck. The redhead took a long, deep breath to inhale his forest and tea scent, wishing she could only smell that for the rest of her life. 

Alternatively, Oz buried his face in her hair to inhale slowly. To him, Ruby smelled like autumn with a small whiff of roses. Fallen leaves and a crackling fire with a tiny bit of a winter chill and passing rose petals. Oz had come to really enjoy her natural scent, as the smell of her rose shampoo seemed too fake to him, made the flowery scent too overpowering. 

Even as the more responsible one, Oz still didn’t want to get out of bed. He felt it was too cold of a morning to leave the thick covers. 

“We should probably get up soon…” Ruby mumbled against his skin as if she had heard his thoughts. 

“It’s too cold.” Oz mumbled back. Cold mornings were one of the only times Oz acted even remotely childish, around other people anyway. 

“But-  _ mmph! _ ” Ruby started to interject but Oz moved his hands from around her and pushed her chin up, trapping her pink lips in a kiss. Ruby’s eyes widened before fluttering closed. After a moment she pulled back. “Ack, morning breath. No more kisses until we brush our teeth!” Ruby groaned. 

“ _ We _ ? I didn’t know we were at a point where we referred to ourselves like that.” Oz said smugly.

“Well- Uhm… I just thought since we’ve… Gah, why do you always play with my emotions like that?!” Ruby shouted, making Oz chuckle and kiss her again against her wishes. 

“I’m only joking, Ruby. You can refer to  _ us  _ in any way you please.” Oz pecked her forehead and finally got out of the warm bed. Ruby obediently followed after him to the bathroom before she realized her toothbrush was still in her bathroom. 

“Be right back.” Ruby chirped and sped to her bathroom, using a little bit of petal boost to get there and back, scattering her rose petals down the hallway. 

When she got back to the bathroom, she had a few stray petals on her shoulders and in her hair and Oz looked over her with a disapproving frown. 

“What did I say about using your semblance indoors?” He asked, somewhat miffed at Ruby’s lack of ability to follow directions. 

Ruby waved him off as she took her place beside him in front of the sink. “It’s fine, I’ll clean it up later.”

Ozpin rolled his eyes and squirted some toothpaste on his toothbrush before handing it off to Ruby. “You said that last time, and I still ended up doing it.” Oz stuck the toothbrush in his mouth and started brushing. 

Ruby got toothpaste on her brush as well and set it down, cap off on the counter. Another one of her habits that irritated Ozpin. “That was  _ one  _ time!” She whined before brushing her teeth as well. They were silent as they did this before Oz spit the toothpaste out and washed the remaining foam out with water. 

“That might have been the one time you forgot to clean up your petals but don’t forget the time you tracked mud all over the flat and didn’t clean it up, and when you destroyed the kitchen for one midnight snack, and the time you let that stray cat in and it peed all over my favorite rug-” Ozpin started complaining. 

Ruby quickly spit the toothpaste out of her mouth and with a foamy mouth she interjected, “Eins isn’t a stray, he’s a friend!” With that, she rinsed her mouth out and set her toothbrush down on the counter. 

“Ruby. He,  _ it _ , freaked out and tore up your cloak, peed on the carpet and my rug, and the lept from the balcony to escape-” Oz said with a deadpan expression. 

“That’s only because your scary, old face scared him!” Ruby raised her voice up an octave with each word. 

Oz continued as if she hadn’t opened her mouth. “-and speaking of which I know you’ve been feeding him when you think I’m not watching. Let’s not forget the fact that Qrow is still watching you when my back is turned.”

“He’d starve if I didn’t feed him!” Ruby cried. 

“Ruby Rose, that’s not the point of this discussion and you know it. Let’s not forget that you’re staying here and training under me for free and I expect you should at least be able to follow some ground rules.” Ozpin sighed, his eyebrows creased. While he didn’t particularly like holding something like that above her head, he also didn’t like her to think she could walk all over him. 

Ruby was silent for a moment, her eyes downcast. “If I’m such a burden then why am I even here? I’m not good enough to even be a student here, so why are you training me personally. Why… Do you care so much?”

“That doesn’t matter. Go get ready, we’re practicing some more in Professor Port’s classroom this morning.” Ozpin said in a dismissive way. 

Ruby’s face suddenly got very red and she pursed her lips for a moment as her eyebrows knit together and she exploded. “Go to hell, asshole!” Ruby yelled and stormed out of the bathroom, to her room where she slammed the door so hard Oz would be surprised if there wasn’t a crack in the wall. 

Ozpin listened for a moment, her footsteps storming around before her door swung open and she heard her loud steps down the hallway. Oz poked his head out of his bedroom doorway just in time to catch a whiff of her rose scent as she passed by his room on her way to the foyer and out the door. In the few minutes she was in her room she had thrown on one of her old outfits, a black turtleneck with a triangle cleavage window, a red waist cincher with black laces, a red skirt with a black print of the same flaming rose of the brooch Oz had bought for her and a black tulle underneath, a pair of stockings that faded from black at the top to red at the bottom which left the bottom half of her thigh exposed, and her regular black boots with the red soles. Ruby was fastening her thicker cloak on as she passed, not paying Ozpin any mind. Ruby had decided she was done speaking with him for the rest of the day. Oz immediately noted that she wasn’t wearing her brooch, and knew it was another one of her ways of showing she was mad at him.

Ruby clipped Crescent Rose to the holster on her back and left the flat without another glance at Oz. 

Ozpin turned and plopped down on the bed with a sigh. It was still a little warm where Ruby last laid and he reveled in the feel before getting back up to get dressed. Moody teenagers, he could deal with. He did so on a daily basis. A moody Ruby, somehow, made him feel much more exhausted than any others. Oz made himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen before heading down to his office. He had a bit of paperwork left to complete and turn in before General Ironwood would be arriving later that afternoon.

 

…

 

Ruby, once she had left the main building, was soon joined by Qrow. It was was early enough that no students were around, and likely not awake either as the sun was barely peeking its head over the horizon and classes didn’t start for another three hours. The huntsman transformed from being a bird behind some trees before making his way to the cross teenager. 

“You look pissed.” Qrow commented.

“Yeah, no shit.” Ruby replied.

“Oz being a bugger?” He asked. Ruby stopped and turned to look at Qrow.

“When  _ isn’t _ he being a bugger?” She asked and rolled her eyes, jutting her hip out. 

Qrow looked at her with amusement. “Need a stress reliever?”

Ruby’s eyes lit up, though her face didn’t show her change in mood. “Depends on what it is…”

“Well, didn’t you say you wanted to work on your weapon some?” Qrow asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Ruby’s face caught up to her eyes. Her mood elevation caused a smile to stretch across her features, making Qrow smile a little as well. “Yes! Is there a workshop on campus?”

Qrow shook his head. “No, but I have one down in Vale. I’d say we have enough time to catch an airship down to write up some blueprints and purchase metal before you have to get to class.” 

Ruby leaped with joy. “Sweet! Let’s go now, the next aircraft down to the city should be here any minute!” Ruby grabbed Qrow’s hand and sped off towards the station. 

As they arrived an aircraft had as well, and they boarded as soon as they were able seeing as they were the only ones going down to Vale from Beacon. 

The ride took only a few moments, during which Ruby was to busy planning what kind of upgrades she wanted. Adding to that she realized she hadn’t let go of Qrow’s hand and quite frankly, she didn’t want to. With Ozpin aggravating her nerves so, it was nice to have Qrow as a distraction. Ruby’s silver eyes gazed up at him, taking in his rough appearance. Prickly-looking beard, pouty and chapped lips, tired-yet-alert garnet eyes, and dark grey hair with light strands that was pushed back and resembled the feathers of his namesake. His jawline was sharp and his nose very much pointed. The morning light gave his high cheekbones much more definition than needed and lit up his red eyes to look more like a fiery gold. All of that together made Ruby’s heart flutter, and her bottom lip to be caught between her teeth.   

Qrow could feel Ruby’s eyes on him as she scrutinized him, but he pretended not to notice until she was probably done. Then, he turned his head and arched a dark eyebrow. “Like whatcha see?” Qrow asked, his tone laced with suggestion. 

Ruby flushed and quickly looked away, and yanked her hand away from his, as she was unwilling to let him know how attracted she felt to him at that moment.  _ It was probably just heightened emotions from your fight with Oz, so don’t do something stupid Ruby!  _ She mentally scolded herself. Just because she was angry with Oz didn’t mean that she should do something that might wind up getting her punished… Though, the thought of being “punished” in the way he did last time made Ruby’s legs press together, an action that did not go unnoticed by her companion. 

Qrow wondered just what was going on in her head, and secretly hoped it had something to do with himself. He disregarded Ruby’s lack of response, chalking it up to her possible attraction to him. Since neither one knew what the other was thinking, obviously, they never could correct each other. 

A little while later the airship had a small jerk as it slowed and landed, and Ruby jumped up as soon as she could to exit the ship. After the slight awkwardness from earlier had subsided, Ruby’s excitement for redesigning her weapon with a  _ real  _ weapon master had replaced it. She was bouncing on her heels as she waited for the doors to open, and as Qrow sauntered up behind her, waiting with his enthusiasm well hidden by a mask of indifference. 

The doors opened and Ruby darted out, only halting once she realized she had no idea where Qrow’s workshop was. Qrow caught up and silently led the way for her. Ruby had a certain bounce in her step showing her boundless energy. 

It didn’t take long to come to a very nondescript building. It was a two-story townhouse style, and Qrow walked up the steps and pulled out his scroll to wave it in front of the scanner above the door handle. The door audibly unlocked and Qrow opened the door to lead Ruby inside. She didn’t get a good look around as Qrow ushered her to a room in the back which was well lit and quite large. There were bits of scrap metal scattered about the room, mostly laying on the floor, and there were counters and tables all pushed against the walls. Papers of model weapons and whatnot gracing the beige walls and dark oak tables. Tools were also somewhat scattered around the room, though Ruby could see a case with a lot of what looked like various hand tools that she couldn’t name off the top of her head. In front of one desk was a metal stool, and in front of another was the kind of stool that you could adjust the height and swivel around. 

While Ruby stood and gawked, Qrow had already made his way over to the regular stool and sat down as he pulled out some paper and a pencil. He looked back at her and motioned to her to pull up the other stool. Ruby jumped to quickly do so and moved to his right. “Do you have the original plans for Crescent Rose?” He asked. All semblance of joking around was buried under the seriousness of designing a functioning weapon for Ruby. 

“Not on me right now… But I can mostly recreate them from memory, so long as I have her in front of me.” Ruby said as she pulled the folded up scythe from her back and opened it. Then, picking up the pencil she sketched out what she remembered the designs to be. She had to pick up Crescent Rose and look her over a couple times to figure out which piece did what. “I think that’s about it,” Ruby said and set down the pencil, rubbing her wrist. “All of my original plans are back at Roman’s place since I hadn’t really expected I’d be redesigning my weapon in the middle of a mission…”

“That’s fine, I can already see a couple of reasons why she has a couple of those ‘quirks’ you’ve mentioned.” Qrow picked up the papers Ruby used and set them to the side and pulled out a few more blank sheets. He then got to work redesigning. It was a little bit fun to work on a scythe that wasn’t his own, and Ruby did have a few good ideas. She just obviously wasn’t a very skilled craftsman yet.

Ruby sat back and watched him work, not wanting to break his concentration. One of the first things he changed was the handle from being straight to curved back and made it shorter. The first thing he had noticed when Ruby handled her scythe was that it was just too big for someone of her stature. She obviously struggled with the weight of it, and as such her swings weren’t as confident as they should be. To fix this, while not losing too much impact the weight of a full scythe provides, Qrow decided the new metal they’d use would be of a lighter sort but still be somewhat thicker. 

While planning, Ruby’s eyes strayed from the blueprints to a clock hanging on the wall and her eyes widened as she nudged Qrow. “We have to go, my first class is in ten minutes.” 

Qrow nodded and straightened up, setting down his pencil. “Right, let's hop an airship. Don’t want Ozpin getting on me for making you late.”

The two of them stepped out, Qrow pausing to make sure the door locked behind them, and then they were off; speed walking towards the airship station. They made it there quickly, luckily just before the airship was getting ready to lift off. It was much more packed than it had been earlier and there was no place to sit, unfortunately. 

During the ride, Ruby and Qrow continued swapping ideas for her scythe. Most of this conversation was simply Ruby suggesting gaudy or outlandish additions to Crescent Rose and Qrow shooting them down. 

Ruby felt like no time passed between the airship leaving and landing, due to her attention being occupied and she was a little disappointed she had to go so soon. They stepped out of the airship and went their separate ways, Ruby walking back to Oz’s flat to change into her uniform and Qrow to a secluded area where he could change into a crow. 

***

Classes passed and Ruby’s anger towards Ozpin had faded to irritation, to indifference, and then right back to her usual need to please. When Ruby arrived back in Oz’s; he half expected her to blow in like a storm, childish insults at the ready. Luckily for Oz, she walked in as she always did and threw herself down on the couch as well. She let out a deep sigh and turned her face up to look at Oz. His attention was on papers in front of him, and his eyebrows were knitted together in concentration. Ruby sighed once again and got up, so she could run to Oz’s flat and change back into her usual clothes. 

When Ruby came back down to Oz’s office, he was in a heated discussion with another man. The other person was tall with broad shoulders and wearing an Atlas-like military Uniform. His features were sharp, eyebrows thick and knitted together in what seemed like frustration, and his hair was dark grey with streaks of white at the temples. It took a moment for Ruby to put together who it was. General James Ironwood. Ruby felt prickles of fear in the form of a weight on her chest, but as her eyes strayed over to Ozpin a bit of relief swelled inside of her.  _ It was fine _ , she told herself,  _ Oz wouldn’t let anything happen to make him look bad. Like harboring a murderer.  _ Okay so maybe Ruby was still a little scared.

Ozpin’s eyes strayed from Ironwood’s, and he noticed Ruby standing in front of the elevator with her focus trained on himself. The discussion was abruptly cut because when Ozpin turned, James did as well, his confusion evident on his face. “Who’s this?” The General asked. 

“A pupil of mine.” Oz said without missing a beat. “Miss Rose, this is General James Ironwood. As you know he is the headmaster of Atlas Academy and a colleague of mine. James, this is Ruby Rose, first-year, and my personal student.” 

Ruby looked to Ozpin again, he gave her a small nod and that was all she needed as a confidence boost. Ruby marched forward with sure steps and a polite smile. “Nice to meet you, General.” The redhead said as she firmly shook his hand. 

The General’s eyes were still curious as he looked down at her and shook her hand. “Likewise.” He wondered what had made her special enough for Oz to keep her in his pocket, but it took only a glance at her silver eyes for the answer to come to him. 

After pleasantries were exchanged, Ruby dropped his hand and made her way behind Ozpin’s desk to stand on the headmaster’s right and slightly behind him. Ruby stood rigidly, with her arms at her sides and her gaze pointed downwards. 

Oz cleared his throat, turning back to Ironwood. “Now, where were we?” 

James didn’t let the fact that Ruby was clearly accompanying Ozpin, instead keeping his eyes on the man in front of him. “Are you sure we can discuss such matters in front of a student?” He asked, his eyes narrowing. 

“Of course, I’m sure anything you have to say to me can be said in front of a student or two.” Oz said with a smug look in the lad’s direction. 

Ironwood considered his words carefully, before huffing. “Never mind, I have other matters to attend to, much more important than bickering with a  _ colleague _ .” The man spat before turning with a wave of his coattails on his way to the elevator. 

Once he was gone, Oz turned to Ruby, who had just sagged in relief. “Ready for aura training?” 

Ruby’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes! This time it’ll last more than 5 minutes, right?”

Ozpin’s eyebrow raised in a questioning manner. “5 minutes? We were out there for almost an hour.” 

“It felt like much less.” Ruby shrugged, already walking towards the elevator that lead to the flat so she could grab her cloak. 

Ruby was back within a couple minutes and the two set off on their way to the emerald forest. Ozpin set a comfortable pace in front of Ruby, while she fell back a step. Walking like this was already very natural for her and she quite enjoyed it. 

On the way, Ruby talked about her classes. First mentioning her gaffe in Professor Oobleck’s class due to her limited knowledge of history, then of her blunder in Professor Port’s because of her inability to think strategically. When she said that, Ozpin remarked that he’d have to add strategy to his lesson plan for her, making Ruby groan. 

With such lighthearted conversation, Ruby barely even noticed the time it took to get from the school to Ozpin’s grove. Luckily for Ruby’s fears, this time they would be practicing in broad daylight. 

Once they were both situated across from each other, close enough that with a small shift they could be touching, and Ozpin asked, “What was the object you imagined your soul as?” While he already had a guess, he still wanted to hear it from he. 

“A… Rose? I think?” Ruby said, struggling to pull out the memory. Confirmed Oz’s speculations. 

“This time, instead of imagining just one rose, imagine a field of them.” Ozpin said. 

Ruby nodded and closed her eyes, relaxing and breathing in the way he had instructed last time. In her mind’s eye, she saw a sprawling stretch of grassy hills. Slowly, one by one, roses began growing out of the greens. While all looked a little different, with different rates of blooming, heights, and size, they were all the same ruby red color. 

When Ozpin noticed no physical changed like that he had seen before, he continued. “Now, I want you to imagine that they’re all glowing brightly and getting bigger. Remember,  _ slowly _ .” He said next. 

The headmaster’s voice faded in and out, but Ruby got the gist of it. Very slowly, she saw a dim light begin in the bud of each rose and get brighter with each passing minute. Her concentration on keeping everything moving slowly caused beads of sweat to slip down her temples. 

“...And now, activate your semblance.” Ozpin ordered. 

In Ruby’s mind, the petals on each rose blew away as her own body scattered in a whirlwind of bright red roses. The weightless feeling she always loved seemed to be maximized as she lazily floated around Ozpin. All of her petals were silver at the base, which branched out to the end. Each vein of silver glowed dimly. Ozpin smirked since he knew she would pick it up quickly. 

“Return.” He instructed.

The petals drifted back down to where Ruby was once sitting and spun quickly to reform an intact Ruby. The redhead had a few stray petals resting on her shoulders, lap, and in her hair while. She had a light smile, as she picked one up and inspected it. “How was it? Feel any different?”

Ruby thought on it for a moment as her finger traced a single vein of silver. “I felt really… powerful? Like I could have floated all the way to Patch and back without exhausting. What was that?”

“Meditation, but in a way to temporarily boost your soul and by extension, your aura and semblance. With practice, you’ll be able to do that much faster, and with more power.” Ozpin explained. “It should also make it easier to control your semblance. Notice how you didn’t leave behind as many petals as you usually do? That’s because you had more control over yourself.” 

Ruby nodded, then yawned. “That makes sense, I think. I’m tired… Can we go back?”

Ozpin thought it over. He had hoped they’d get to practice more but he figured if she were tired it’d be harder for her to boost herself anymore. “I guess that’s fine. Let’s go.” He stood and held his hand out.

Ruby placed her hand on his calloused one, using it to stand. Oz let her hand drop, and Ruby stumbled a little bit but straightened out. She turned her head up at the readily darkening sky in surprise. Maybe it did take a lot longer than she had previously thought. 

 

~

 

It didn’t take long to get back to the flat, even though neither Ruby nor Ozpin talked while they were walking. Ruby barely got her boots off at the door and made it back to Ozpin’s room before she collapsed, face first, onto Oz’s bed. Her eyes were too heavy to open, and she fell asleep without changing once again. 

Ozpin sighed at the sight of supple behind sticking right up as she dozed. He changed her into another one of his shirts and tucked her under the covers as he walked back down to his office to complete more paperwork. 

It was going to be a long night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sigh*, okay I added a note to the prologue but now I feel I should say something here as well. There were a couple incidents with some flamers involving some dumb spellings of Ardy's name and nasty comments. I won't describe it any further but I will say that I have had to disable anonymous comments so I will apologize to those of you lovely guest commentators, as your comments always brightened my day but you'll have to make an account to send another message my way.   
> If you see anyone commenting toxic things with Ardy's name, or Kry's, or anyone else who writes for Ruby/Oz please know that that is not any of them! Please alert Kry or I if you see any of this happening again.
> 
> As always, thank you very much for reading and/or leaving NICE or CONSTRUCTIVE comments. Have a nice day/night!! ^^

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and criticisms are always welcome! Please validate me (:


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